Impact of Water Resources on Tourism in the Marshes

Zaid Hakim Jiyad
Under the supervision of Lect. Dr. Ali Khazal Jawad

Before the 1970s, there was a complex system of natural channels where the Tigris and Euphrates formed the inner delta at the source of the marshes, and the marshes formed a highly interconnected system in which the rivers merged and disappeared. This system changed in the last century with the construction of agricultural canals, drainage systems and hydraulic structures, which greatly affected the water treatment of the entire system.
Water from the Tigris River feeds the Hawizeh and Central Marshes due to the insufficient capacity of its channel. The main Tigris channel also reduces its width as it approaches the marshes; the river flow decreases significantly.
The Euphrates River is restricted by higher dams along the way from Nasiriyah to Al-Qurna. However, there are secondary tributaries that connect the Central Marshes to the Euphrates through a number of gullies along the northern Euphrates dam. The Euphrates River divides into several arms downstream to Nasiriyah, and flows into the Hammar Marsh along several secondary channels; the main tributary of the Euphrates flows towards the confluence of the Tigris at Qurna, but is currently closed by a barrier that facilitates its flooding through the wetlands. Water from the Hammar Marsh flows into the Shatt al-Arab and the Shatt al-Arab and Shatt al-Basra rivers via Qarmat Ali, while the central marsh flows up the Euphrates and then, at Qurna, into the Shatt al-Arab. Water from the Hawizeh Marsh flows into the Tigris and Shatt al-Arab.