Iraq Water Resources Planning : Perspectives and Prognoses

Iraq is located in the Middle East. It covers an areaof 433,970 square kilometres populated by about 32 millioninhabitants. Iraq greatly relies in its water resources on the Tigrisand Euphrates Rivers. Recently, Iraq is suffering from watershortage problems. This is due to external and internal factors. Theformer includes global warming and water resources policies ofneighbouring countries while the latter includes mismanagement ofits water resources.The supply and demand are predicted to be 43 and 66.8 BillionCubic Meters (BCM) respectively in 2015, while in 2025 it will be17.61 and 77 BCM respectively. In addition, future predictionsuggests that Tigris and Euphrates Rivers will be completely dry in2040.To overcome this problem, prudent water management policiesare to be adopted. This includes Strategic Water ManagementVision, development of irrigation techniques, reduction of waterlosses, use of non-conventional water resources and research anddevelopment planning.Godkänd; 2015; 20140815 (nadhir