Natural tourism potential in Muthanna Governorate

Hamad Majid Badawi Hamza
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Abd Ali Kazim Al-Fatlawi

Al-Muthanna Governorate is distinguished by its unique natural tourist attractions, especially Lake Sawa, one of the natural phenomena linked to critical historical interpretations. These components also enjoy a biodiversity of economic importance, in addition to what adds to its charming nature.
Lake Sawa is one of Iraq’s most important natural areas, as it is located in a desert area about (30 km) from the city of Samawah. Its clear waters characterize it, as its length is about 4.75 km, and its width is approximately 1.75 km. The lake is characterized by the composition of its waters, which is entirely different from the composition of the water in the region, as the water level in it is about (five meters) higher than the surface of the land adjacent to it, which prevents it from being seen except very close distances. This indicates that it is located in a rocky pocket that isolates it from the land of the region and its nature.
The lake’s waters rise (11) meters above the level of the Euphrates River, so the water in it can be drained by descending (Al-Ansari, 2017: 407)
The lake has maintained its water level without any apparent specific channel feeding it, but rather, it depends on cracks at the bottom from which water comes out. The lake’s shape is very similar to that of a (pear). Before the year
(1990 AD), it was a destination for thousands of tourists. After this date, the former regime neglected it, as the buildings and rest houses that were built on its banks are currently demolished. The area surrounding the lake could be transformed into an important tourist site if many tourist facilities and services were established for all the rest houses, restaurants, and tourist houses, and the road leading to it was paved.
Among the historical events associated with its origin is that the day of the birth of (the noble Messenger Muhammad, may God bless him and his family and grant them peace) was full of more than one event. The Jewish rabbis predicted and said: The prophet of this nation was born, and the palace of Khosrow cracked, and Lake Sawa emerged. This is what they expected through their predictions and future readings at that time, or it was formed by the processes of subsidence and dissolution of limestone rocks that occur under the surface of the earth, forming conflicting openings between them (sinkholes) that were also exposed to the collapse of their surface, which led to the coalescence of these openings, forming this lake. The longitudinal shape of the lake indicates the validity of the interpretation. Thus, Lake Sawa is a tourist monument with ancient cultural value and is qualified to be a development project with great economic returns if the proposed plans are invested and seriousness is found in implementation by the relevant authorities. Therefore, it is necessary to invest in the possibility of developing it as a tourist destination in light of the visions that will be presented in coordination with the competent authorities in the governorate, especially the Department of Development and Planning, the Directorate of the Department of Agriculture, and the relevant departments in the governorate, in addition to the geographical development role as an effective contributor to planning and presenting ideas and visions arising in its field of specialization and working between these parties as a coordinated team that is united in ideas and effort to implement this development project. (Al-Ansari, 2017: 408) Lake Sawa does not have rivers that flow into or exit it; rather, it is supplied with groundwater from under the lake, which seeps into it from the Euphrates River through cracks and fissures. On April 17, 2022, a spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources announced the complete drying up of the lake and that this drying up had occurred for the first time. (Ali, 2022: 144)