MANAGEMENT OF CURRENT WATER RESOURCES IN BAHR AN-NAJAF BASIN IN IRAQ

Mohammed Shaker Mahmood; Hassan Ali Omran; Ali Abbas Kadhem

doi:10.3759/jowrem.v5i2.814

Abstract

Water resources management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and managing the optimum use of water resources. With hot and dry climate in Iraq combined with lack of water resources management, water is one of the most central issues. Utilizing adequate management techniques, optimal use of the available water within Iraq can be achieved. This paper focuses on management of the current water resources in Bahr An-Najaf area (251 km2), Najaf city, Iraq depending on data that have been collected in 2013 and before with no changes in the next several years. The analyses have been made using a licensed computer software named “water evaluation and planning system (WEAP)”. The analysis results indicated that the total volume of consumption is 15.166 Mm3 while the quantity of usable water is 179.659 Mm3. Hence, there is a large quantity of surplus water up to 164.493 Mm3are not used and are flowed into Bahr An-Najaf Lake. The agriculture sector can growth using surplus water and by using the usable surplus water quantity in cultivating the 78% of farmland that not currently cultivated.