Drought Analysis and Water Resources Management Inspection in Euphrates–Tigris Basin

Abstract

Growing population, increasing basin development, and progressively declining water supplies are typical water resources issues in the Middle East. Drought is one of the most damaging climate-related hazards that affect more people than any other. For identifying drought-prone areas in the Euphrates-Tigris Basin, multifold aspects of drought and its features such as the frequency of drought occurrence and its spatial distribution were assessed. The long-term precipitation data were collected from different meteorological stations of Turkey and Iran, and standard precipitation index (SPI) was calculated. Due to the lack of raw data, the literature works on drought were used in Syria and Iraq to obtain a drought perception in these countries. Moreover, the policy of water resources management and the hydraulic works in these regions were considered. The results show significant changes in the precipitation in these regions over the past decades. The projects undertaken in the basin are not in line with the principles of integrated water resources management and intensify the drought and caused marshland demise in the downstream of the basin. The results of a comprehensive analysis of precipitation variation and water management in this research can alter the policy of water resources management in order to avoid drought in the basin.

The Gavkhouni Wetland Dryness and Its Impact on Air Temperature Variability in the Eastern Part of the Zayandeh-Rud River Basin, Iran

“…Therefore, the wetland cannot balance its ambient temperatures. The values of LST and Tair_calc in the selected years show that the year 2009 was one of the driest years not only in Iran but also in the entire Middle East [50]. The results also indicated a good correlation between LST and Tair_obs (r 2 = 094, r = 0.97) at the stations near the Gavkhouni wetland (Figures S4 and S5).…”

Introductory Chapter: Lake Urmia - A Witness to the Simultaneous Effects of Human Activities, Climate Change, and Global Warming

“…Amini analyzed the climate data from Iran and its riparian countries [1]. The results revealed Climate Change and Global Warming the considerable spatial and temporal changes in the precipitation total series of regions during the last 10 years.…”

“…The results revealed Climate Change and Global Warming the considerable spatial and temporal changes in the precipitation total series of regions during the last 10 years. The human activities such as dam construction and interbasin water transfer intensify such changes [1]. The most well-known evidence to demonstrate the effects of climate change and human activities is shrinking and drying up of Lake Urmia in Iran.…”

Introductory Chapter: Sustainable Development and Sediment Engineering

“…These changes increasingly disturb the local hydrological cycle creating problems with stream flows, erosion, and sedimentation [3]. Apart from land use change, river canalization, water pumping, inter basin water transfer, logging, road construction, gravel mining, and mega hydraulic structures like dams are commonly considered unnatural contributors to sedimentation [4]. As common human activities, agricultural land development and urbanization within a stream's watershed often increases excessive quantities of sediment to water ways.…”