Hydrogeological Survey for Sustainable Groundwater Development

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Hydrogeological Survey for Sustainable Groundwater Development

Advanced Survey of Hydrogeological Resources in Iraq Phase-II (ASHRI-2)", an EU-funded, and GoI-co funded 10 Mio EUR Project in Support of the National Water Sector of Iraq Has Started

Iraq's hydrological system has undergone dramatic change over the past 30 years, driven primarily by pressures related torising demand for a resource of increasingly limited supply. A shortage of perennial surface water in recent years has meant that reservoirs, lakes and rivers are diminished to critical levels. The Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, the country's primary source of water, have fallen to less than a third of normal capacity. With national storage capacity dropping to around 9 per cent of full capacity in December 2009, the government estimates that it is down to 20 per cent of its reserves. According to the Ministry of Water Resources, close totwo million Iraqis faced severe drinking water shortagesby the end of 2009.

The stress on the system has affected agriculture to the extent that Iraq has shifted from being a prominent wheat exporter to being the world's largest importer of wheat. Poor irrigation and drainage methods have led to considerable wastage in water resources, highlighted by the fact that over 90% of Iraq's water is currently used for anagricultural sector that provides for less than a quarter of the country's food needs.

Notwithstanding this wealth of Iraqi expertise in hydrogeology, water management decisions are taken using data that is modelled on traditional scientific tools and methods. Studies are outdated and current science contains significant spatial and temporal gaps, producing less than optimal results for planning, monitoring and exploitation. Because information is disjointed across different agencies, a comprehensive and integrated assessment is currently difficult to achieve.Current understanding of Iraq's groundwater availability and dynamics is incomplete, and needs updating through the use of modern techniques.

Source: UNESCO

 

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