2018 Ismaiel

Bangor University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Assessment of surface water quality and quantity in Great Zab river catchment, in the Kurdish region of Iraq Ismaiel, Ismaiel Asad Award date: 2018 Awarding institution: Bangor University Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 03. Oct. 2021 ASSESSMENT OF SURFACE WATER QUALITY AND QUANTITY IN GREAT ZAB RIVER CATCHMENT, IN THE KURDISTAN REGION OF IRAQ ISMAIEL ASAD ISMAIEL Thesis submitted in Candidature for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Bangor University SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES AND GEOGRAPHY August 2018 ACKNOWLEDGMENT I am deeply indebted to Dr Graham Bird for undertaking the task of supervising this thesis, who made me believe in myself and guided me through the whole process of writing my thesis. I am sure that this thesis would not have been possible without his support. My gratitude and appreciation are due to my second advisor, Professor Dr Morag McDonald for offering many suggestions and corrections during all stages of the work. I would like to thank the staff members of the School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography for their assistance during my study. My special thanks to my wife for her patience and help during my study. Lastly, I wish to thank my brothers and sisters and many close friends for giving me encouragement and enthusiasm to finish my PhD degree. vi DEDICATION To the soul of my son Lawi Ismaiel 06-10-2013 vii ABSTRACT The Great Zab River catchment is a major left-bank tributary of the River Tigris and drains a substantial part of the Kurdistan Region, an autonomous region of Northern Iraq. The average annual rainfall in the Great Zab river basin varies from more than 1000 mm/year northeast of the catchment to about 300 mm/year in the southwest. In this study, monthly, seasonally and annually precipitation, temperature and discharge trends of stations in the Great Zab catchment from 1960–2012 were analysed and interpolated. The Mann-Kendall trend test was applied to examine the precipitation, temperature and discharge data. Positive and negative trends at significance levels of 95 and 99% were detected. Water supply was calculated from precipitation stations of catchment using water balance. Water demand for domestic and agricultural sectors were estimated using available secondary data. Within Kurdistan, the water resources of the Great Zab River catchment are under pressure from population increase and are utilized for potable, domestic, agricultural, and industrial supply. As with many parts of the world, effective management of water resources within Kurdistan is hindered by a lack of water quality data and established background concentrations. This study therefore represents the first regional survey of river water chemistry for the Great Zab River catchment and presents data on the spatial and temporal trends in concentrations of As, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Li, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sr, Zn, NO3−, SO42−, F−, Cl−, and PO43−, in addition to pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen and turbidity. As a tool for underpinning the management and monitoring of water quality, background concentrations were defined for the Great Zab catchment using three methods. The influences of geogenic and anthropogenic controls upon spatial and temporal trends in water chemistry are also evaluated. The influence of geogenic loading from underlying bedrock was identifiable within the observed spatial trends, with the most notable differences found between waters sampled from the relatively more volcanic-rich Zagros Zone to the north and those viii sampled from the lower catchment underlain by younger clay-, sand- and siltstones. The greatest anthropogenic influence, identifiable through elements such as Cl- and NO3-, is present in the more highly populated lower catchment. The background concentrations identified in the Great Zab catchment would be those expected because of geogenic loading with some anthropogenic influence and represent a more conservative value when compared to those such as the World Health Organization Maximum Admissible Concentration. However, background concentrations represent a powerful tool for identifying potential anthropogenic impacts on water quality and informing management of such occurrences. ix CONTENTS DECLARATION AND CONSENT....................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENT ................................................................................................................... vi DEDICATION….. .......................................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT…….. ......................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... xii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1 1.1. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY...................................................................................................... 1 1.2. JUSTIFICATION FOR THE STUDY ................................................................................................... 3 1.3. OVERALL AIM AND MAJOR OBJECTIVES ...................................................................................... 5 1.4. THESIS STRUCTURE ...................................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................................. 7 2.1 DRIVERS OF WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT ......................................................................... 7 2.2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF IWRM ....................................................................................... 11 2.3 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ......................................... 14 2.4 ANTHROPOGENIC EFFECTS ON WATER RESOURCES .................................................................. 17 2.5 OVERVIEW OF SURFACE WATER RESOURCES IN KURDISTAN REGION ....................................... 19 2.6 PREVIOUS STUDIES ON ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY IN GZRB .......................................... 23 CHAPTER 3: STUDY AREA ........................................................................................................ 27 3.1 LOCATION OF STUDY AREA ......................................................................................................... 27 3.2 HYDROLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS ............................................................................................. 28 3. 2.1 River basins and hydrographic network.............................................................................. 28 3.2.2 Relief and hydrological zones .............................................................................................. 32 3.3 PHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION ................................................................................................... 33 3.3.1 Topography and limits of topographical basins ................................................................... 33 3.3.2 Geological Setting ................................................................................................................ 36 3.3.3 Groundwater ........................................................................................................................ 37 3.3.4 Soils ...................................................................................................................................... 38 3.4 CLIMATIC CHARACTERISTICS ....................................................................................................... 39 3.5 NATURAL FOREST AND VEGETATION ......................................................................................... 43 3.6 HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS ......................................................................................................... 44 3.6.1 Population size and growth rates ........................................................................................ 44 3.6.2 Drinking water and sanitation.............................................................................................. 45 3.6.3 Legal and institutional framework ....................................................................................... 46 x CHAPTER 4: SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL TRENDS OF WATER QUALITY IN GREAT ZAB RIVER BASIN47

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