Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
limited electricity services, limited fishing, harvesting reeds, raising buffalos, and boat
manufacturing. We hope that the . . . government will start strategic development
projects for the marshes as promised. We urge the government to help the marshes
and the Marsh Arab, not only because it would bring sustainable development,
unique ecosystems and potential eco-tourism to the Marshes, but also to acknowledge
the sacrifices and suffering of the people under the previous regime” (H. K. Ahmed
from discussion with author, December 14, 2008).
With the demise of Saddam Hussein and the Baathist regime in 2003, and with
good water years from 2003 to 2005, water returned to about 60 percent of the former
marshland area (Richardson et al. 2005). Some areas rejuvenated beautifully, with
lush growth of reeds and rebounding fish populations. The Ma'dan people who lived
as environmental refugees throughout the 1990s were returning to the marshes with
their water buffalo. However, despite the rehydration of such a large area of the
marshes, much of the marsh ecosystem is in poor condition. According to a paper in
Science
(Richardson et al. 2005), less than 10 percent of the original marshes in Iraq
remain fully functioning wetlands (also Reiss et al. 2003; Stevens 2006).
Water, air, and land pollution is still extremely severe in many parts of Iraq, in-
cluding the Mesopotamian marshes (Bowman 2005; Nature Iraq 2009). Iraq's envi-
ronmental problems include (1) water resource pollution (including groundwater);
(2) ecosystem and biodiversity degradation; (3) waste and sanitation disposal; (4) oil
and other cement, fertilizer, and pesticide industry pollutants; and (5) the direct im-
pacts of military conflicts (Bowman 2005). Reduced flows have exacerbated water
quality problems. While in Basra, I was left with the impression that this area has
highly polluted air, land, and water. With low flows, salinity in the Shat al Arab River
(the river formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers) had increased
from one part per thousand to four to five parts per thousand (Marine Science Center,
Basra University, unpublished data, 2009). Flows are significantly reduced. In 1977-
1978, flows in the Shat al Arab ranged from 990 to 1,277 cubic meters per second; in
1993-1994, flows ranged from 550 to 1,100 cubic meters per second; in 2005-2006,
flows were as low as 204 cubic meters per second; and in 2008-2009, flows reached a
low of less than 100 cubic meters per second. Shad (
Alose hilsa
) populations have de-
clined 75 percent. Many other invertebrates are also declining, and the salty turbid
water with warmer temperatures is adversely affecting fish production and biodiversity
in the Persian Gulf. In Basra I saw shattered buildings and rivers so polluted with algae
(
Dunaliella
spp.) that the water turned bright pink. Garbage was everywhere and stray
dogs snuffled through it, well fed but in ill health. Heavy particulates from dust caused
the air to appear sepia toned, with a visibility similar to dense fog.
Cultural Heritage: Basis for Eco-cultural Restoration
The
al Ahwar
marshes are the homeland of a distinct cultural group—the mostly
Shi'ite MuslimMarsh Arabs. They consider their ancestral territory and cultural iden-
tity to straddle the present Iraq-Iran border, and there are strong kinship ties between
marsh dwellers in both countries. According to Partow, “The marshlands have been
