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18 January 2008
Iraq Water Resources Benefit from U.S. Expertise, Funding
Modernization targets agriculture, hydroelectric power, flood warning
Washington -- U.S. scientists and engineers are working with their counterparts in the Iraq Ministry of Water Resources to install the latest technology and implement modern methods for managing the Middle Eastern nation's water resources.
Iraq, home to the watersheds of the ancient Tigris and Euphrates rivers, has more water than most of its neighbors, but it is not enough to have rivers, canals and dams. Iraq’s water resources must be monitored and managed to optimize the distribution of water for agriculture and electrical generation.
Funding for the modernization project comes primarily from the Iraq Transition Assistance Office (ITAO) and the Italian Ministry of Environment and Territory (IMET). Technical expertise comes mainly from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
"We're trying to help the Ministry of Water Resources develop capacity within the agency," said hydrologist Stephen Lipscomb, associate director for the USGS Idaho Water Science Center in Boise, Idaho.
"Over the last 20 years or so," he added, "they've fallen behind in water resources management technology as a result of wars, embargos, internal strife and conflict. This [program] is helping them move forward with one of their most valuable resources."
STREAMGAGING
Satellites and computers are a big part of technology modernization for water resources. Hydrologists use automated streamgaging stations, for example, to monitor streams, wells, lakes, canals and reservoirs and other water bodies.
Instruments at the satellite-based gaging stations collect information like water height, discharge, water chemistry and water temperature in real time and send it to the USGS by satellite. The data are processed and uploaded to the Internet for anyone to use.
Streamgage measurements are used to predict floods, manage water use, plan water supplies, evaluate habitat and conditions for wildlife and detect changes in the environment. In the United States, streamgaging became an organized part of the USGS in 1889, and more than 7,000 streamgages were active at the end of 2005.
"Streamgaging is done routinely here in the United States, but in Iraq they've had to operate their dams for hydroelectric generation, irrigation and water storage in a much less sophisticated manner," Lipscomb said. "Someone might go out to the site once a day and see how much water is in the stream, then call the dam manager with the number."
With streamgaging stations, he added, they can monitor water flow through their projects from an office computer.
In Iraq -- thanks to USGS technical expertise and funding from ITAO and IMET -- five streamgaging stations are operational and another 115 are planned. Ten snow-monitoring stations also are planned. Thirty of the 120 streamgaging stations also will be able to monitor water quality.
Another piece of equipment, an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP), uses sound to measure how fast water moves across a water column. Together, the gaging station and the ADCP measure water height and speed, and that information helps optimize hydroelectric generation or water storage for irrigation.
"From my perspective," Lipscomb said, "this is one of those projects going on in the background that's helping Iraq become more stable. In Baghdad, people often get only two to four hours of electricity a day, even in the middle of the summer when temperatures are well above 100 degrees [Fahrenheit]. [The hydrometeorological network project] is helping alleviate that kind of problem, and at the same time enhances crop production and public water supplies."
Linda Allen, senior consultant for the Ministry of Water Resources, U.S. Embassy-Baghdad, said the hydrometeorological network project is part of ITAO efforts to build capacity in Iraq to improve water management, alleviate flood and drought conditions, and develop short- and long-term integrated water resources management plans.
IRAQ AND IDAHO
The USGS, in collaboration with other agencies, has provided training and technical assistance to the Iraq Ministry of Water Resources since 2004.
In 2005 and 2006, Lipscomb traveled to Iraq with experts from the Army Corps of Engineers and IMET to train Iraqi engineers and help establish streamgaging stations in Dokan in northern Iraq and Feish Khabour on the Iraq-Syria border.
In May 2007, USGS and IMET held a training session for Iraqi engineers in Treviso, Italy, on setting up and operating a satellite ground station. The station is being relocated to Baghdad, where it will be used to retrieve real-time hydrologic data from the Meteosat-7 satellite. In the meantime, USGS is retrieving the satellite data for the Iraq Ministry of Water Resources and posting them on the USGS Web site.
In the fall of 2007, 20 Iraqi scientists and engineers gathered in Boise at the USGS Idaho Water Science Center for hands-on and classroom training hosted by USGS and funded by ITAO. The training covered hydrologic monitoring station installation and operation, water quality and snowpack data, hydroacoustics and hydrologic data management.
ITAO and IMET have provided all the equipment. IMET purchased the satellite ground station and 25 gaging stations; ITAO purchased 100 gaging stations, along with water quality and snow-monitoring equipment.
USGS, ITAO, IMET and the Ministry of Water Resources identified specifications and developed an integrated plan for deploying the equipment.
This summer, Lipscomb said, another training workshop might be held in the Middle East on the use of remote sensing data and satellite imagery for watershed assessment, with experts from the USGS Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and with ITAO funding.
But the effort goes beyond training and technology, Lipscomb said. "We're developing some close personal relationships and ties,” he added. “I think we're going to be able to help them move forward and that's a very satisfying part of my job.”
More information about the U.S. National Streamflow Information Program is available at the USGS Web site.
