Chapter 5 Shatt al Arab, Karkheh and Karun Rivers INVENTORY OF SHARED WATER RESOURCES IN WESTERN ASIA (ONLINE VERSION) How to cite UN-ESCWA and BGR (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia; Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe). 2013. Inventory of Shared Water Resources in Western Asia. Beirut. CHAPTER 5 - SHATT AL ARAB, KARKHEH AND KARUN RIVERS Shatt al Arab, Karkheh and Karun Rivers EXECUTIVE SUMMARY There are no water agreements in place for the Shatt al Arab, Karun or Karkheh Rivers. The Shatt al Arab River is formed by the However, Iran and Iraq have agreed to cooperate confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers on issues of common concern. near the city of Qurnah in southern Iraq. Downstream of Qurnah, the area draining to the Shatt al Arab region is shared between Iran KEY CONCERNS and Iraq. In addition to the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, the Karkheh and the Karun sub-basins WATER QUANTITY contribute water to the Shatt al Arab. Both the Karkheh and the Karun Rivers originate in the Intensive water resource development (mainly dams and irrigation Zagros Mountains in Iran and discharge into the infrastructure) in the upstream areas of the Euphrates and Tigris Basins has resulted in a reduction of flows to the Shatt al Arab River and Mesopotamian Shatt al Arab. Marshes. Iraq has voiced concern over recent Iranian plans to construct a levy along the The Shatt al Arab River forms the main source Iran-Iraq border through the Haweizeh Marshes. Such a levy would reduce of freshwater for the Persian Gulf and plays freshwater flow to Iraq, further threatening the marsh ecosystems. an important role for marine habitats in the Gulf’s north-eastern coastal areas. However, WATER QUALITY the large-scale development of upstream water The drainage of the Mesopotamian Marshes has had a negative impact on the regulation and dam structures, together with Shatt al Arab and the Persian Gulf: the increase in salinity levels in the Shatt al the drainage of the Mesopotamian Marshes have Arab has caused noticeable degradation of coastal areas in Kuwait due to the caused severe salinization of the river. This not presence of toxic sediments in the Gulf. Increased pollution from agricultural, only threatens marine ecosystems in the Gulf, industrial and domestic effluents forms an additional problem. but also jeopardizes agricultural activity along the Shatt al Arab. FACTS SHATT AL ARAB RIVER KARKHEH RIVER BASIN KARUN RIVER BASIN RIVER RIPARIAN COUNTRIES Iran, Iraq Iran, Iraq - BASIN AREA SHARES - Iran 98%, Iraq 2% Iran BASIN AREA - 51,110 km2 71,980 km2 RIVER LENGTH 192 km 964 km 867 km MEAN ANNUAL FLOW VOLUME .. 5.8 BCM 24.5 BCM MAIN DAMS - 2 (max. storage capacity 7.9 BCM) 6 (max. storage capacity 12.4 BCM) PROJECTED IRRIGATED AREA .. .. .. BASIN POPULATION - 4 million 3.5 million 148 INVENTORY OF SHARED WATER RESOURCES IN WESTERN ASIA - PART I Tehran As-Sulaymaniyah Semnan Qeshlagh OVERVIEW MAP$ Sanandaj Derbendikhan 48°E 50°E 52°E $ Georgia Armenia Azerbaijan $ Turkey Hamadan Qom Iran Syria Qarasou Gamasiab Lebanon | ¸ Iraq ¸ Kermanshah Jordan Hemrin Arak Diyala Kuwait $ 34°N 34°N Karkheh Saudi Arabia Ba qubah sub-basin Ilam ¸ I r a n Baghdad Saymareh Gangir Khorramabad Kashkan ¸ Sezer Karun Karkheh sub-basin Bakhtiari Tigris Meymeh Changooleh basin Dez Esfahan Kut $ Al-Hillah ¸ Tigris Karkheh Dez $ $ Kut Dwairej ¸ Nader Upper Gotvand Paye Pole Shah (under construction) Tib $ $ Shahrekord Ad Diwaniyah Karun An Najaf Masjed $ Soleyman $ 32°N Karun-1 32°N Karkheh Karun-3 Main Outfall DrainEuphrates Amarah Masjed Soleyman $ basin Karun-4 Vanak I r a q Hamidiyeh $ ¸ Lordegan As-Samawah | Khersah Euphrates Ahvaz Karun Qurnah Nasiriyah Shatt |al Arab Basrah Khorramshahr 30°N 30°N K u w a i t Persian Gulf !H Kuwait City Bushehr 0 25 50 100 150 km Shatt al Arab, Karkheh and Karun Rivers International boundary River $ Dam !H Capital Intermittent river, wadi ¸ Monitoring station Inventory of Shared Water Selected city, town Canal, irrigation tunnel | Climate station Resources in Western Asia Basin boundary Freshwater lake Disclaimer Main shared sub-basin boundary Wetland The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations. © UN-ESCWA - BGR Beirut 2013 149 CHAPTER 5 - SHATT AL ARAB, KARKHEH AND KARUN RIVERS CONTENTS GEOGRAPHY 152 Climate 153 Population 154 SHATT AL ARAB 155 Hydrological characteristics 155 Water resources management 156 Water quality & environmental issues 156 KARKHEH 157 Hydrological characteristics 157 Water resources management 158 Water quality & environmental issues 159 KARUN 160 Hydrological characteristics 160 Water resources management 161 Water quality & environmental issues 162 AGREEMENTS, COOPERATION & OUTLOOK 163 Agreements 163 Cooperation 163 Outlook 163 NOTES 164 BIBLIOGRAPHY 166 150 INVENTORY OF SHARED WATER RESOURCES IN WESTERN ASIA - PART I FIGURES FIGURE 1. Sketch of the Mesopotamian river system 152 Climate diagrams for Kermanshah in Iran, Ahvaz in Iran and Basrah FIGURE 2. 153 in Iraq Mean annual precipitation in the Shatt al Arab region, including the FIGURE 3. 154 Karkheh and Karun Basins FIGURE 4. Potential mean annual flow contributions to the Shatt al Arab 156 Mean monthly flow regime of the Karkheh River at the Paye Pole FIGURE 5. 157 gauging station (1961-2001) Changes in mean Electrical Conductivity (EC) values along the FIGURE 6. 159 Karkheh River (1988 and 2002) a) Mean (specific) annual discharge, b) discharge anomaly time FIGURE 7. 160 series of the Karun at Ahvaz (1894-1985) Mean monthly flow regime of the Karun River at Ahvaz for different FIGURE 8. 161 time periods (1894-1985) FIGURE 9. Water use in the Karun Basin in 2007 161 TABLES Summary of annual flow volume statistics for the Karkheh River and TABLE 1. 157 its major tributaries in Iran (1961-2001) TABLE 2. Current and planned water allocations in the Karkheh Basin in Iran 158 TABLE 3. Constructed dams in the Karkheh Basin in Iran 159 TABLE 4. Main constructed and planned dams in the Karun Basin in Iran 162 BOXES BOX 1. Evolution of the Shatt al Arab Delta 155 BOX 2. Piping Karkheh Water to Kuwait 158 BOX 3. The Haweizeh Marshes 159 BOX 4. The Many Courses of the Karun 160 151 CHAPTER 5 - SHATT AL ARAB, KARKHEH AND KARUN RIVERS Defining the Euphrates-Tigris-Shatt al Arab Basins The Euphrates-Tigris-Shatt Al Arab river contribution to discharge, as well as water use system constitutes by far the largest surface patterns and water quality. The shared tributaries water resource in the study area. Its combined of the Euphrates River (Chap. 2) and the major topographic catchment covers more than shared tributaries of the Tigris River (Chap. 4) are 900,000 km2 from the headwaters in the Taurus- covered in more detail in two separate chapters in Zagros Mountain Range to the Mesopotamian order to highlight the role of these rivers and draw lowlands and the only outlet to the Persian Gulf, attention to local water issues and transboundary the Shatt Al Arab (Fig. 1). The overall basin is also impacts. Chapter 4 also provides information home to around 54 million people in Iran, Iraq, Syria on water use in Iran, which does not share the and Turkey. Given its importance and in order to watercourse of the Tigris River itself but hosts adequately reflect the specific conditions as well as important tributaries within the Tigris Basin. Finally, its complex hydrology, the Inventory dedicates five the Shatt al Arab River is discussed together with chapters to this river system. two additional major tributaries, the Karkheh and the Karun Rivers, which discharge directly into the The Euphrates River Basin (Chap. 1) and Tigris Mesopotamian Marshes or the Shatt al Arab itself, River Basin (Chap. 3) each have a different dynamic and are hence neither part of the Euphrates or and set of characteristics, particularly with Tigris River basins (Chap. 5). regard to their riparian countries, tributaries and Figure 1. Sketch of the Mesopotamian river system TURKEY IRAN Sajur Balikh/Jallab Feesh Khabour Greater Zab Khabour Lesser Zab SYRIA Baghdad Diyala EUPHRATES TIGRIS RIVER RIVER IRAQ Qurnah Karkheh River Karun SHATT AL ARAB City Persian Gulf Tributary Source: Compiled by ESCWA-BGR. 152 INVENTORY OF SHARED WATER RESOURCES IN WESTERN ASIA - PART I Geography The area draining to the Shatt al Arab includes The climate ranges from extremely hot, dry the Euphrates Basin, the Tigris Basin, and two summers with air temperatures above 50°C to major sub-basins: the Karkheh and the Karun cold winters with sub-zero temperatures. (see Chap. 1, Overview Map, Fig. 1). The Shatt al Arab River is born from the confluence of Total annual precipitation ranges from 150 mm Euphrates and Tigris Rivers near the Iraqi town in the plain to 1,200 mm in the mountains.6 of Qurnah and is shared between Iran and Iraq. As in the Karkheh Basin, precipitation falls The area draining to the Shatt al Arab covers mainly between November and April. about 145,190 km2, excluding the Euphrates and Tigris Basins (upstream of Qurnah), but Figure 2. Climate diagrams for Kermanshah in including the Karkheh and Karun sub-basins Iran, Ahvaz in Iran and Basrah in Iraq (see Overview Map).1 (mm) Kermanshah, Iran The Karkheh and Karun Rivers both originate in the Zagros Mountains in Iran and discharge 50 100 into the Shatt al Arab. Unlike the Karkheh Basin, 40 Air temperature 80 the Karun Basin lies entirely in Iran. The Karun 30 is nevertheless included in this chapter as it 60 contributes significantly to the Shatt al Arab, 20 which defines part of the Iran-Iraq border.