Maintenance and Stewardship - Project Planning and Management for Ecological Restoration - page 183

The marsh is at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The marsh
formed shallow lakes, mudflats, and deepwater lakes, all providing important habitat
for a wide variety of resources used by the Marsh Arabs. At present, water diversion is a
major deterrent to marsh restoration. The demand for water by agriculture and oil ex-
ploration has reduced water flow into the marshlands significantly, and that demand
increased during the first Gulf War. Despite wide international interest in restoring
the marshlands, there remain significant issues related to water (Alwash 2013). The
Euphrates has dams in Turkey and Syria, and the volume of water released is con-
trolled by those countries' needs, resulting in only one third of the necessary quantity
entering the marsh. Creative hydraulic projects on the Euphrates have helped to
restore approximately 45 percent of the marsh in that area, with limited populations
of birds, fish, and other wildlife returning.
Water management and planning are definitely the major factors affecting the
overall continued persistence and restoration of the marsh. Efforts have progressed
toward international agreements. Development of plans for a restoration program has
identified the need to establish a research field laboratory, to bring the community
into the process by education, and to create a database to establish a baseline. Co-
ordination among the various governmental bodies, both local and national, has not
been good, and progress on these initiatives is marginal. On a local level, serious dis-
putes between tribes persist. Turkey has built more than twenty-two dams, with more
planned. Water diversion on the Tigris River has significantly reduced water flows
by one third (Hammer 2006). National and regional planning has failed to provide
the overall vision for sustainable development of the marshes. Still undetermined is
a plan that accounts for water needs among its primary users. Creative solutions are
being proposed to provide the pulsing freshwater desperately needed to return at least
a portion of the original marsh back to its historical function.
In lieu of international and national progress, local projects seem to be experi-
encing the best results. A product of discussions among all members of the com-
munity has produced a number of priority actions. These include securing funds by
approaching oil companies to contribute as a social responsibility; providing support
for the community to develop a restoration plan with a monitoring requirement; in-
corporating the traditional practices of the region into the restoration process; docu-
menting the oral history of the region as a means of providing a framework to develop
restoration projects and benefiting from current restored areas so that other areas may
be restored.
Many lessons have been learned from the Iraq marshlands situation. The first is to
have open communication and agreement among all potential parties involved. Inter-
national and national interests, and corporations as well as local communities, must
all have a voice. There must be legislation to protect the areas undergoing restoration