Effect of climate change on the Tigris river basin in Iraq

Abstract

Hydrologists, water managers, and policymakers are all concerned about the potential implications of climate change on water supplies. This paper describes development of water resources management in northern Iraq. The study looks at three hydrological variables that represent various stages of the hydrological cycle. The hydrological variables are discharge, rainfall, and temperature. The result showed that the volume of water for Great Zab River reduced from 264 billion m3 for the period (1980-1999) to 209 billion m3 for the period (2000-2020). Due to the absence of dams on the river mainstream, therefore, the Great Zab can be considered as an indicator of the climate change effects. Additionally, the volume of water for Lesser Zab River reduced from 494 billion m3 for the period (1932-1999) to 0.86 billion m3 for the period (2000-2020). For Great Zab, the maximum and the minimum annual rainfall was 309.44 mm in 1994 and 104.57 mm in 1999 for the period (1982-1999) respectively, whilst the maximum and minimum annual rainfall was 430.05 mm in 2018 and 152.43 mm in 2017 for the period (2000-2020) respectively. Accordingly, the climate changes have a significant impact on Tigris River in the northern of Iraq.