On the Current and Restoration Conditions of the Southern Iraqi Marshes: Application of the CCME WQI on East Hammar Marsh

Al-Saboonchi, Azhar A.; Mohamed, Abdul-Razak M.; Al-Obaidy, Abdul Hameed M.J.; Abid, Haider S.; Maulood, Bahram K.

doi:10.4236/jep.2011.23035

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The findings are consistent with other studies [e.g.,3] that noted that some water chemistry parameters of Al-Hammar Marsh, when compared with historical surveys completed before drainage [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ], revealed high increases. This considerable increase in ion concentrations is probably related to a rise in salinity in the main feeder of the marsh (e.g., the Euphrates River) and to increased flux into the water column of ions concentrated in the soil after more than a decade of drainage and evaporation [10] .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Al-Hammar Marsh, one of the three biggest marshes in Iraq, is situated to the south of the Euphrates River (30 45'–30° 59' N, 46° 25'–47° 15' E) and has an area ranging from 2800 km 2 of contiguous permanent marsh to 4500 km 2 during flooding periods. The marsh that is fed mainly by the Euphrates River, Tigris River, the Central Marshes, and groundwater recharge drains ultimately into the Shatt Al-Arab River, which empties into the Arabian Gulf [10] . Al-Hammar Marsh had been desiccated for more than a decade; however, the marsh was restored to around half of its original size in 2005 after a policy was initiated to restore the marshes in 2003 [9] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Environmental assessment of Al-Hammar Marsh, Southern Iraq

Al-Gburi

Al-Tawash

Allafta

2017

Heliyon

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim(a) To determine the spatial distributions and levels of major and minor elements, as well as heavy metals, in water, sediment, and biota (plant and fish) in Al-Hammar Marsh, southern Iraq, and ultimately to supply more comprehensive information for policy-makers to manage the contaminants input into the marsh so that their concentrations do not reach toxic levels. (b) to characterize the seasonal changes in the marsh surface water quality. (c) to address the potential environmental risk of these elements by comparison with the historical levels and global quality guidelines (i.e., World Health Organization (WHO) standard limits). (d) to define the sources of these elements (i.e., natural and/or anthropogenic) using combined multivariate statistical techniques such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Agglomerative Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (AHCA) along with pollution analysis (i.e., enrichment factor analysis)MethodsWater, sediment, plant, and fish samples were collected from the marsh, and analyzed for major and minor ions, as well as heavy metals, and then compared to historical levels and global quality guidelines (WHO guidelines). Then, multivariate statistical techniques, such as PCA and AHCA, were used to determine the element sourcing.ResultsWater analyses revealed unacceptable values for almost all physio-chemical and biological properties, according to WHO standard limits for drinking water. Almost all major ions and heavy metal concentrations in water showed a distinct decreasing trend at the marsh outlet station compared to other stations. In general, major and minor ions, as well as heavy metals exhibit higher concentrations in winter than in summer. Sediment analyses using multivariate statistical techniques revealed that Mg, Fe, S, P, V, Zn, As, Se, Mo, Co, Ni, Cu, Sr, Br, Cd, Ca, N, Mn, Cr, and Pb were derived from anthropogenic sources, while Al, Si, Ti, K, and Zr were primarily derived from natural sources. Enrichment factor analysis gave results compatible with multivariate statistical techniques findings. Analysis of heavy metals in plant samples revealed that there is no pollution in plants in Al-Hammar Marsh. However, the concentrations of heavy metals in fish samples showed that all samples were contaminated by Pb, Mn, and Ni, while some samples were contaminated by Pb, Mn, and Ni.Discussion and conclusionsDecreasing of Tigris and Euphrates discharges during the past decades due to drought conditions and upstream damming, as well as the increasing stress of wastewater effluents from anthropogenic activities, led to degradation of the downstream Al-Hammar Marsh water quality in terms of physical, chemical, and biological properties. As such properties were found to consistently exceed the historical and global quality objectives. However, element concentration decreasing trend at the marsh outlet station compared to other stations indicate that the marsh plays an important role as a natural filtration and bioremediation system. Higher element concentrations in winter were due to ...

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental assessment of Al-Hammar Marsh, Southern Iraq

Al-Gburi

Al-Tawash

Allafta

2017

Heliyon

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Some researchers turned to evaluate the water quality of Al-Hammar Marsh after restoration by using the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment Water Quality Index (CCME WQI) for a different period [20] assessed water quality of the East Hammar for 2005-2006. The results reflect that the marsh area is still far from the current guideline criteria and, too far from restoration, while [21]evaluated the water quality in Al-Hamedy Station, located in the middle of the marsh and related to the Al-Basra Governorate from 2011 to 2015, the Arithmetic Weighted Index was employed to determine the (WQI in the Al-Hammar Marsh, the results showed that the marsh water was brackish because of the high concentration of totally dissolved solids flowing in from the estuaries of the feeding channels coming from the river Euphrates, as well as from the tidal phenomenon via river Shatt Al-Arab.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Utilization of Satellite Images-Based Indices for Assessment of Al-Hammar Marsh Restoration plan

Dhaidan¹,

Alwan²,

Al-Khafaji³

2021

ETJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

 Used a series of spectral indices in Ecological wetland assessment.  Develop a satellite-based model to automated classification of the marshes land cover.  Spatiotemporal assessment of the efficiency of implementing restoration plans.Wetland landscape characterization is an important component of determining the degree to which wetlands improve environmental conditions. The present study aims to create a model used to automated extraction of the land cover of the western part of the Al-Hammar Marsh south of Iraq, and then monitor the change in land cover overtime. A model builder in ArcGIS created based on a series of spectral-based indices included the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), the Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI), and the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), the OLI satellite images from 2013 to 2020, ENVI 5.3 and ArcGIS 10.4 were used to achieve this goal. The results were six land cover classes: water, density vegetation, medium dense vegetation, low dense vegetation, wet barren land and, dry barren land. From the monitoring of the changing trend, it is clear that there is no improvement in the vegetation area, only a slight temporal improvement to 48% in 2017, an increase in water area for the years 2019 and 2020 to 47.33%, and 42.85% from the total area of the marsh respectively. The highest percentage was in 2019 while decreasing to the lowest rate of 14.05% for the year 2018. The developed model was accepted and can be applied for reflectance Landsat 8 data in the study area and can be applied in the southern Iraqi marshes. It also can be applied to other types of sensors, but according to determinants.

show abstract

“…Several studies have been focus on describe water quality and the fish assemblages in the southern marshes since inundation in 2003 (ARID, 2006;Hussain et al, 2009;Mohamed et al, 2008Mohamed et al, , 2012Mohamed et al, , 2014. Some works have been carried out attempting to evaluate water quality change as result of environmental alteration in the marshes by using Water Quality Index, WQI or water characteristics (Al-Saboonchi et al, 2011;Al-Kenzawi et al, 2011) or fish structure changes in the marshes by applying the Index of Biotic Integrity, IBI (Al-Shamary, 2008;Mohamed and Hussain 2012a;Mohamed 2014a, b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological assessment of East Hammar marsh, Iraq using a number of ecological guides

Abdul-Razak¹

2017

JKAU Mar Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ecological status of the East Hammar marsh was evaluated by using a number of ecological guides: water quality index (WQI), Carlson trophic state index (TSI) and fish integrated biological index (F-IBI) during the period from November 2012 to October 2013. The results revealed that the annual value of WQI varied from 51.1 (marginal) for historical data before desiccation to 67.8 (fair) for data after inundation. The marsh was evaluated to be mesotrophic (TSI= 42.0). IBI scores were calculated from 16 separate assemblage metrics based on the fish species richness, species composition and trophic guilds. The ecological status of the marsh was found to be fair (F-IBI= 47.7) and was slightly better than the status of the marsh after 2-4 years of restoration activities. The rather low improvement in the situation of the marsh indicates that the environment is still fragile and requires the allocation of water share from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to restore marsh normality.

show abstract

On the Current and Restoration Conditions of the Southern Iraqi Marshes: Application of the CCME WQI on East Hammar Marsh

Cited by 15 publications

References 8 publications

Environmental assessment of Al-Hammar Marsh, Southern Iraq

Environmental assessment of Al-Hammar Marsh, Southern Iraq

Utilization of Satellite Images-Based Indices for Assessment of Al-Hammar Marsh Restoration plan

Ecological assessment of East Hammar marsh, Iraq using a number of ecological guides

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About