Chapter 2: State of the Environment and Policy Response
Climate change and mismanagement of groundwater resources
The arid and semi-arid climate of the region and climate change constitute major drivers affecting land, resources and humans alike, working as a determinant of land productivity and economic development. The most limiting factor for development is water scarcity, which is expected to reach severe levels by 2025.
What is historically known as the Fertile Crescent – Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) – is now likely to fall short of all soil fertility
requirements and might altogether disappear before the end of the century, mainly because of a deteriorating supply of water from surface and groundwater sources (Tolba and Saab 2009).
Mismanagement of groundwater resources, coupled with increasing surface temperatures, evaporation rates, and reduced rates of precipitation, has led to salinization of water and soils in several countries of West Asia. The phenomena vary in extent and magnitude from one country to another, and sulphates and chlorides are the main salts increasing in the waters and soils of the region. Box 2.2.3 provides an overview of salinization of soil and water in Oman and Iraq.
Box 2.2.3: Salinization of soil and water in Oman and Iraq
Since the 1990s the salinity of soil and groundwater has been increasing in two of the major agricultural areas of Oman - Al Batinah and Salala, where values of 30 000 parts per million have been reported for groundwater salinity, significantly reducing farm profitability. Groundwater over-extraction was reported to be the main cause of the problem.
Iraq has experienced the formation of extensive salt crusts on the surface of large areas of agricultural land. This phenomenon results from the reduced mobility of near-surface groundwater, seepages from the Tharthar, Razzazza and Habbaniya lakes in the north towards Mesopotamia in the south, and increased surface temperatures in the region, exceeding 50oC in recent summers.
The elevation of the Mesopotamian Plain of Iraq ranges from less than 1 metre to about 60 metres above mean sea level. The hydraulic gradient, which is a measure of groundwater flow rate, is estimated to be 0.0002 and groundwater mobility is less than 10 metres per year.
The groundwater salinity in this giant flood plain, once considered the most fertile land in the world, is several times higher than that of seawater; up to 200 grams per litre have been recorded compared to 35 grams per litre in seawater. It is noteworthy that about 60 per cent of Iraq’s population lives in this region.
The continual decline in water flows in the lower Tigris and Euphrates has led to infiltration of saltwater from the Arabian Gulf into the Shatt Al-Arab River in southern Iraq. The salinity level in this river was recorded at up to 40 000 parts per million in 2009 at the peak of a severe drought, and 12 000 parts per million since then. In 2009 the saltwater reached beyond Basra and further north, about 150 kilometres inland. This has decimated agriculture that relies on the river water, as well as freshwater fisheries, crops, livestock and the famous groves of date palms, which have been abandoned.
55
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156