Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Jassim al-Asadi, Nature Iraq, put it this way: “There is drought, the water levels are
getting lower, and water quality has worsened; the marshes are continuously shrink-
ing. This leads to great suffering, especially for the water buffalo breeders and fisher-
men. We must put pressure on decision makers to implement temporary solutions to
provide marshes with water from the rivers. Please help us in writing and demanding
water from Turkey and Iran, providing us with our fair share of water required to re-
vive the marshes” (Stevens 2009). To this end, more than five hundred Iraqi scientists
and researchers have appealed to the Iraqi government, other governments in the
Tigris-Euphrates watershed, and scientific organizations for help to ensure main-
tained flows of water for the Iraqi Mesopotamian marshes. Their signed petition,
which was approved at the Third Scientific Conference on the Rehabilitation of
Southern Iraqi Marshes in 2009 in Basra, states the following: “For over 5,000 years
the cultures and ecosystem of the al Ahwar marshes have flourished and been sus-
tained through life-giving waters; we request enough water to restore and preserve the
biodiversity and long-lasting cultural heritage of this region.” The Iraqi scientists have
asked for help to make the world aware of the tragedy of the losses in the marshes and
to help apply pressure on adjacent countries in the Tigris-Euphrates watershed (i.e.,
Syria, Turkey, Iran) to allow bypass flows into the system. This is a regional issue af-
fecting all of the Middle Eastern countries in one way or another. There needs to be a
just and equitable distribution of the water resources and improved efficiency of us-
age. Additionally, there needs to be some sort of basinwide planning or third-party ne-
gotiation for this to occur.
Conclusion
The Mesopotamian marshes are an acknowledged, internationally significant wet-
land, have outstanding cultural antiquity and heritage value, and provide an ecologi-
cal and cultural experiment at a scale never before considered in eco-cultural restora-
tion. Incha Allah (as God wills it), international negotiation will result in ensuring
flows of water to the marshes to sustain the ecosystem and human lives. Narmeen
Othman, Iraqi minister of environment, says, “There are two places in Iraq—the high
places in the north's mountains and the southern marshland—where you are speak-
ing with God. When I was alone in the mountains, I took my strength from nature,
from the grasses and flowers and trees, from the waterfalls and rivers. The same pieces
of water that come from our mountains, they end up in the marshes, and they are a
gift to Iraq” (Stevens 2009).
Notes
1. The term al ahwar is derived from Aramaic and means “whiteness” or “the illumination
of sun on water.”
References
Ararat, K., and R. Porter. 2008. Field Guide to the Birds of Iraq . Cambridge, UK: Birdlife Inter-
national and Sulaymaniyah, Iraq: Nature Iraq.
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