Strategy for Sustainable Development of Water Resources in the Iraqi Agricultural Sector after 2003

Authors

  • أ.م.د. لورنس يحيى صالح
  • عمار صلاح احمد محمد

Keywords:

water resources, agricultural sector, mathematical analysis of water resource sustainability, SWOC and TOWS analysis, rehabilitation.

Abstract

   Bridging the widening gap between Iraq's water needs to fully meet all sectors (water users) and the alarming decline in freshwater availability has become a major challenge for the country, as the water situation is deteriorating faster than expected. In the next few years, the water coming into Iraq will be significantly reduced, mainly due to the ambitious development plans of the riparian neighbors of the Tigris and Euphrates basins (Turkey, Syria and Iran), especially in the absence of comprehensive permanent water-sharing agreements. Of the climate change and other factors, the need to impose on Iraq transition studied from traditional water resources management to integrated water resources management strategy for sustainable development with a view that is not a water shortage imminent threat in the future.

   Since the agricultural sector is the largest consumer of water in Iraq, and the largest waste at the same time, any attempt to achieve the sustainability of water resources, must start through this sector, through the gradual and systematic implementation of comprehensive measures and reforms, to reach the optimal and efficient use of water resources In the agricultural sector, this is a prerequisite for sustainable development (its economic, environmental and social components) and a safety factor towards the repercussions of the difficult water conditions expected in the coming years, which is the focus of this research.

Published

2022-04-11