Hydrology
The two rivers that feed
the Marshlands of Iraq are the Tigris and Euphrates, which depend on winter rains and
spring snow melt
in the Taurus and Zagros Mountains to provide
the water for the marshes. The Euphrates
traverses a considerably greater distance than the Tigris from its mountain basin to the point
where it
meets the Mesopotamian alluvial plain at Ar-Ramadi. The Euphrates receives only two tributaries, the
Al-Balikh and
the (western) Al-Khabur, both of them spring-fed. The Tigris, in
contrast,
flows down the edge of a long, multi channeled catchment basin and is
fed by
four strong tributaries, the Great Zab, Little Zab, Al-'Uzaym (Adhaim),
and
Diyala, all of which derive their water from snow melt in Anatolian,
Iranian,
and Iraqi Kurdistan. When the Tigris and Euphrates reach
the flat
lands of southern before they empty in to the Persian Gulf the two
rivers
spreads out across the Mesopotamian plain in a broad expanse of
distributaries,
interconnected lakes, temporary mudflats and wetlands. These two
rivers
provide most of the water for the marshes, and have made the fertile
land made
the growth of agriculture possible.
The average depth of
water in the marshes during flood season was
3 to 5 feet with a maximum of 6 to 10 feet. Water depth during
the
summertime was less, completely drying up in some seasonal areas.
The
water in most marshes and lakes was fresh, but the water in the lake
closest to
the sea, was brackish.
The growing human population and their
need for water has lead to the construction of many dams on both of the
rivers
to supply the growing need for water. This has affected the
amount of
water that is reaching the marshes leading to their
desertification. The
allocation of water has lead to a great amount of conflict between the
countries, which they flow through. The Iraq government has also altered the flow of
the
rivers. (See human influence)
