Mesopotamia is a land where floods have occurred very frequently. Many destructive floods had been registered by historians, who noted also the food control schemes used in those times. Over history, many structures were built and managed, but this work was taken up again by the General Directorate of Irrigation which was formed in 1917 to manage floods and reduce as much as possible losses, in addition to the development of irrigation works. Plans were made to build a sophisticated flood control and protection system. Several projects were proposed, and since the 1950s they were successfully implemented. Many multipurpose dams were built to mitigate flood conditions in addition to their other functions, such as Mosul Dam, Dokan Dam, Derbendikhan Dam and Haditha Dam. Other projects which were solely planned for flood protection include developing and using natural depressions such as Habbaniyah Lake on the Euphrates River and Tharthar Lake on the Tigris River, to protect Mesopotamia from floods. Moreover, the southern marshes in lower Mesopotamia may be utilized for flood protection. This paper deals only with these natural depressions leaving the dams at the time being.

Euphrates River is one of the two rivers where the civilization and irrigation had started, many major irrigation systems are still operating for centuries. The most important advancement of irrigation within this area happened after 1920s, where new structures were constructed, new canals excavated, new pumps installed, and salt affected lands were reclaimed. The major irrigation projects in along the reach of Euphrates within Mesopotamia are, Great Abu Ghraib, Great Musayab, Hilla Branch projects, Kifl-Shiniafiyah, in addition to many other medium and small size projects. Besides, some important Barrages have been built for controlling water levels of the Euphrates for proper operation, such as Fallujah and Hindiya Barrages. There is a great need for more reclamation in the lower parts of this territory, as well alternatives are needed to avoid discharging saline drainage water to the Euphrates in some projects.

Several irrigation systems have been built at Tigris River basin within Mesopotamia plain. The upper part of Tigris at Mesopotamia is extensively exploited, and several major projects were constructed since the 1970s. These are Ishaqi, Khalis, Diyala Combined Reach, Nahrawan, Dujailya and Dalmaj. Other projects were partially developed, which are Middle-Tigris, Gharraf projects, Great Amarah and KutButaira. The important barrages in this part are Kut Barrage, as well, as the barrages in Amarah area which are of vital importance for irrigation and navigation. Shaat Al-Arab is one of the most important waterways in Iraq. This river has been suffered from water scarcity and riparian countries actions. Solutions for adaptation to adapt the situation were studied and planned carefully, but still there is need for more work to cope with the situation in Basra area.

Since early civilization and the farmers in Mesopotamia are suffering from the soil salinity. This problem had caused the transfer of power from the Sumerians to the Babylonians in ancient history. Great efforts and research have been made since the beginning of the 20th century to overcome this salinity problem. Experts have concluded that the main reason for salinity is the salt content of irrigation water and the shallow saline groundwater derived from the irrigation activities. General schemes were planned, which involve building a new system of drains in parallel to the irrigation network. The backbone of the drainage system in Mesopotamia is the Main Outfall Drain (MOD). Large works such as Musayab Main Drain, Main Outfall Drain, Great Gharraf Drain, East Euphrates Drain were implemented, but there are still large needs for much more work to be done.

Water harvesting in Iraq is an old application with limited extent. Western Desert, Jazeera Desert and Eastern Valleys, are the zones were the water harvesting must be employed. Several water harvesting dams in Western Desert had built since 1970s, these dams are intended to provide habitat and recharge of groundwater resources. There is limited opportunity to recharge groundwater in Jazeera area due to existence of gypsum layers. Regarding Eastern Valleys, the experience of building water harvesting dams on the valleys manifested that sediments accumulation is the main obstacle to adapt this solution. Hemrin Hills considered as one of the most intensively eroded areas in Iraq, so, soil conservation and water harvesting development is important. Many small dams were built in mountainous zone in the last two decades, some are important for agriculture expansion, but there is need to evaluate the effects on large dams feeding. North-Eastern parts of Jordan, which has similar natural conditions of Northern Desert, had present a successful example of water harvesting development.  

Barrages are the early water resources structures that were built in the modern history in Iraq. The main function of the barrages to rise the water levels to feed the main canals of irrigation projects. Further, some barrages are functioning as a diversion structures during floods. The first built barrage and still in operation is Kut Barrage which opened in 1939, while the last one is Amarah Barrage that were opened in 2004. Some of the barrages are in good conditions, some are suffering from technical issues, and others especially at the lower reaches of Tigris and Euphrates Rivers getting insufficient maintenance. Generally, the upstream approaches need dredging of the sediments and small islands, and there is a need also for bathymetric survey of the rivers sections near barrages.  

Euphrates River is distinguished with long existing irrigation projects, which had been developed in the 20th century after centuries of deterioration. One of the major projects a long Euphrates inside Iraq is Great Abu Ghraib Project, which is the largest reclaimed area. Also, Great Musayab Project, Kifl-Shinafiyah Project and Shinafiyah-Nasiriya Project are other major projects. The most important for which Hindiyah Barrage had been built is Hilla Branch that supply many projects on both sides of this branch. Euphrates irrigation projects need a lot of investments to develop the status of the projects and confront the continuous decrease in water quality of the river. 

Along Tigris River reach inside Iraq, many large and small projects of irrigation were built. These projects depend on gravity flow or pumping. Starting from Jazeera project then small projects downstream Fatah, where these feed by pumping. After Samarra scheme, the important Ishaqi project, then after Baghdad, the projects of Nahrawan, Middle-Tigris and Dalmaj. The most important branch from Tigris is Gharraf Canal, which is not exploited yet, although plans were prepared decades ago. Downstream Kut Barrage, several projects are especially on the right side of Tigris. Finally, Shatt Al-Arab project which has a unique importance as it provide the solution for municipal need and save the orchards of dates in Basra.  

There are five tributaries feeding Tigris River inside Iraq, on these many large and small projects were developed. Two kinds of projects can be distinguished, first the projects of complementary irrigation or semi-rain feed area for agriculture, and example of these projects is Kirkuk, Hawija, Eski-Kalak and small projects in mountainous area. The second group is the projects that depend mainly on irrigation, examples of that are the projects in lower Diyaa. Unfortunately, there was no exploitation of lands enough comparing with the available resources in Great Zab territories.

Iraq has a unique system of drainage. Soil texture, groundwater depth, water quality and other factors lead to the adaption of getting rid the drainage water away to the sea in order to control water quality. The system of drainage is not completed yet, however, the backbone of the system, which is Main Outfall Drain (MOD) was completed in 1992. Other main drains were completed and connected and others are still in progress of implementation where the most important drain after MOD is Eastern Euphrates Drain.

Many medium and small dams were built in Iraq. These dams are distributed in three major areas. First is the northern area where many dams built in the period after 2003, even there are some that built in 1980s. Second, is the dams built in the eastern valleys, but these prove to be inefficient due to high rate of sedimentation even in the live storage. Third, is the dams in the western desert. These dams were  highly exploited in 1970s and 1980s to harvest as much as possible in this large and promising area and providing the livelihood conditions to settle people. The area has no more projects due to security issues.

Iraq had suffered for centuries from devastating floods, causing heavy life and property losses and for occasions it demolished the civilizations. Since 1950s, Iraq started to develop several natural depressions to function as escape to mitigate flood waves. The projects of this kind which had developed are: Habbaniyah project, Tharthar project, Schweicha depression and Southern Marshes. The exploitation of these projects comprises building barrages, regulators, and dykes. For Tharthar and Habbaniyah, the diverted water re-used during drought season. Although, these depressions which serve as reservoirs provide invaluable role in flood protection, the construction of the existing and future dams will reduce the feasibility of these projects.

Several dams were built on Tigris, Euphrates, and Tigris tributaries in Iraq. The construction of dams had been done in the second half of 20th century. Of the most critical issues confronting the large storage dams in Iraq are the liquefactions in Mosul Dam foundations, land sliding and earthquake effects in Darbandikhan Dam, and the essential maintenance and rehabilitation requirements almost for all the dams. Absolutely, large storage dams made Iraq surviving from thirst in several occasions. Unfortunately, after 2003, the attention or will are not exist pertaining the building of new or partially built large dams.      

To understand and anticipate flow in various groundwater media, the magnitude and direction of groundwater flow velocity must be deemed. The studied area which is called Halabja-Sadiq Basin is in the northeastern part of Iraq and covers an area of approximately 128,000 square hectometers. There are several groundwater aquifers in this region that supply nearly over 90% of all water needs. Subsequently, it is of highly requirement to identify various groundwater behaviors in the area. The objective of this study is to estimate the magnitude and direction of the groundwater seepage velocity with the aid of groundwater tool in Geographic Information System technology. Refer to the results of this analysis, the magnitude value of groundwater flow velocity ranged from 0 to 51 m/d, whilst the general flow movement is from the eastern part to the western part of the study area. The factor governing the direction of flow and velocity magnitude indicates the direction of dipping of the geological formation strata, the high head of groundwater in the eastern part, and the low transmissivity properties of aquifer materials in the western part.

Remote sensing is the collection and interpretation of information of an object, areaor phenomenon by a recording device that is not in physical or intimate contact with the object or phenomenon under study. It generally refers to the use of satellite borne or airborne sensors to capture the spectral and spatial relations of objects and materials on Earth from the space. This is done by sensing and recording reflected or emitted electromagnetic radiation from the objects. A brief history of satellite remote sensing is given in this review but the bulk of it is devoted to the scientific satellites launched into orbit and their sensors tracking, and presenting changes in water resources fields. The used technologies and satellite systems for monitoring movements and changes include American GNSS, GPS, the Russian GLONASS, Europe’s European Satellite Navigation System (GALILEO), China’s COMPASS/BeiDou, the Indian (IRNSS); Japan’s (QZSS) and many others. Details are presented on the present (LANDSAT), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), as well as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), and RADARSAT, JERS‐1, and ERS, which are developed by various countries, especially the USA. These sensors have the refined capability of providing estimates of variables, which depending on the purpose and design of the sensor, can follow critical issues related to water management problems. This review presents examples of actual studies carried out including; building databases of small dams and lakes on regional scale, derivation of volume vs. elevation and surface area vs. elevation of hundreds of reservoirs around the world, various bathymetric reservoir surveys, siltation of reservoirs and catchment areas erosion problems, monitoring of water quality changes, and above all monitoring dam deformation and stability problems of dams. The presented case studies cover the use of these different sensor together with the imagery used, their sources, methods of interpretation, validation and gives presentation of the end results. This review, which is only a very brief presentation of satellite remote sensing applications concludes that; in spite of the large volume of research done on this subject so far, which this review cites some of them , the expected future developments in satellite remote sensing technology coupled with advances in algorithms and models used in refining satellite imagery and validating the results will bring more accurate results and less laborious treatment work in addition to wider scope of applications.

Mosul Dam is multipurpose earth fill dam 3.4km long, 113m in height and its storage capacity reaches 11.11 km³ of which 2.95 km³ dead storage. The dam is located on the River Tigris in the northern part of Iraq about 60km north west Mosul city. The dam was built on highly karstified alternating beds of gypsum, marl and limestone. The dam was operating in 1986 and since then, seepage problems started due to the solubility of the gypsum beds, presence of karstification and the effect of the local groundwater aquifer. To stop the seepage insensitive grouting program was put to ensure the stability of the dam. Despite the injection of large quantities of grouting material, it did not stop the seepage. The situation became worse in 2014 when ISIS occupied the dam area and grouting operations were halted. Recent evaluation of the conditions indicates that the dam is in its worst conditions.

The failure models of the dam indicate that 6 million people will be affected, and 7202km2 of land will be inundated. It is believed that to stop this catastrophe, grouting operations should be continued intensively to elongate the span life of the dam. As a permanent solution, another dam should be built downstream Mosul Dam so that it can take the wave of Mosul Dam in case of its failure.

Gradual shift has been observed lately of dam safety procedures from the conventional technical based towards a widerscope of risk management procedure based on risk analysis. The new approach considers the likelihood level of occurrence of a multitude of hazards and the magnitude of the resulting possible consequences in case of failure using rational cause and effect arguments. Most dam owners are shifting towards the use of the new risk based procedures; and even governments themselves are moving towards formalizing the new trend. Legislations in the United States were promulgated [1] after serious dam failures and the adoption of stringent levels of scrutiny led such federal dam owners to pioneer in this field and in developing the concepts and methods required. The corner stone in risk analysis is the definition of the potential modes that may lead to failure and assessment of the likelihood levels of their occurrence and possible category of the consequences which, after thorough evaluation, will shape thedecision making. This type of analysis was applied to Mosul Dam as a case study and resulted in definite recommendations.

Iraq as a country is now suffering from Climate Change Impacts in similar or even worse ways than many other countries of the world. The manifestations of these climate changes are being felt in global warming, changes to weather driving elements and sea level rise. Increasing temperatures, declining precipitation rates and changed distribution patterns together with increasing evaporation are causing water stress in Iraq. However, they trigger other changes in a sort of chain reaction; such as droughts, desertification and sand storms. Iraq is not even safe from the consequences of sea level rise where the southern part of the Tigris- Euphrates delta is threatened by inundation and Iraq’s ports and sea coast line are endangered by such projected rise. So far the agricultural sector in Iraq has been hit very badly by the reduced water availability for arable lands; whether rain fed lands as in the northern part, or irrigated lands using the declining discharges of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers as in the southern and middle parts. These discharges have already been additionally strained by the unfair sharing practiced by Turkey from which most of the two rivers’ water resources originate. The present negative climate change trends seem to be continuing in the future as it is obvious from all projections and studies being performed so far. Loss of cultivable land to desertification, recurrent droughts and sand storms and declining agriculture are the pattern of change in Iraq’s already fragile environment; and this will result inevitably in much more distress for the population in the future and will lead to social unrest. These will add to the great pressures facing all future governments unless the government takes protective planning and solutions.

Global warming is hitting all parts of the world for the last fifty years due to Global Climate Change and it is expected to continue in the future in an increasing trend unless the present mode of CO2 emission is limited or reversed. This is manifested in the rising temperature over land and the changes induced in the general weather circulation patterns over land and oceans. The Tigris River catchment as most of other parts in the world is suffering from increased temperatures and reduced precipitation contributing to reduced water resources elements all over it and reduction of the river stream flow itself. Studies using the soil and water assessment tool SWAT were performed on the five Tigris River tributaries basins in Iraq in order to assess these impacts. This paper summarizes the results of those studies, the characteristics of each of the five basins, and illustrates the application of SWAT as a tool for future predictions. Moreover, it explains in more details the work done on one of the basins as an example, summarizes the results of the five studies and then analyzes these results and discusses the expected future outcomes. The final conclusion which can be drawn is that severe shortage in all water resources elements will occur over the five basins and the Tigris River stream flow will suffer a considerable decline. This situation demands that policy makers in Iraq should take steps immediately to improve water and soil management practices to try and reduce as much as possible the expected damage that will hit all water using sectors.

Iraq depends on its water resources from the water of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and their tributaries. Now, the flow of these rivers is decreasing, and Iraq is experiencing a water shortage problem. The situation is expected to be graver in the future if no action is considered. It is expected that the population will be about 70 million in 2050 and about 90 million in 2070. In such a case, thus, the quantities of water available in the future will not besufficient to produce most of the requirements of food security, whether that be from agricultural or animal products. To overcome this problem, water management planning should be based on scientific background to overcome the present and expected problems. One of the main factors to be considered should be based on scientific studies of the virtual water footprint of different food crops to provide the largest possible amount of virtual water and avoid the acute shortage of its national water from surface and ground irrigation water (blue water) and rainwater (green water), in addition to working hard to provide the largest possible amount of desalinated water and refined sewage (gray water). In addition, any strategic plan for sustainable development in the country must be comprehensive so that it is not satisfied with improving the situation in the field of food security related to water security, but rather among its other elements is community development that directly affects food security, including setting policies to reduce consumption by reducing the steady increase in population where the population rate is 2.97% now. Collective awareness and guidance programs in all the fields of water and food security are very important to be adopted, so that everyone knows that the issue of food security and what derives from it are an existential issue related to the survival of Iraq as a state and people. In this research, facts are stated so that action is to be considered to minimize the water shortage problem. The new strategic water resources management plan is to be adopted that considers existing and future expected problems.

Badush Dam is a partially completed dam and a unique case of flood reten- tion dams. Its intended main function is to perform flood protection once in its lifetime; that is if Mosul Dam would collapse. In such a case, the Badush dam would temporarily store the whole flood wave and route it safely to the downstream. For this end, the bulk of the reservoir is left dry, while the re- maining  volume  at  the  lower  part  which  is  intended  for  power  eneration does  not  give  an  economic  justification  for  building  the  full  height  of  the dam. The short duration of the intended use as a protection dam has led to relaxing many design assumptions which have raised concerns over the dam integrity.  The  current  controversy  rages  now  over  whether  to  continue  the construction of the dam as it was first designed or to change all that in view of the similar site geology of Mosul Dam. Mosul dam foundations suffer at the moment from the severe continuous dissolution of the soluble materials in its foundation  leading  to  continued  maintenance  grouting  of  that  foundation. This paper gives an overview of the history of Badush dam, its current design and what new equirements which are needed if it is to replace Mosul Damitself.

Dam safety hazards towards human communities have increased tremendously during the last decades. They have resulted from dam safety problems leading to failure and being exasperated by the large losses at downstream areas due to increasing populations and land use. In this work, an attempt is being made to review the procedures being followed to reduces these hazards by improving dams safety standards. Classification of dams by their potential hazards are explained as used today for prioritize remedial actions in various countries of the world. The guiding principles of these classification are indicated and they are based on height of such dams and their storage and linked to the potential damage and harm they can create. Normally such classification and follow up actions are supported by various legislations and regulations issued by the respective governments. Moreover, conventions signed by riparian countries promote cooperation on mitigating safety problems of dams on transboundary rivers. Examples of such legislations and conventions are mentioned. Looking for having safer dams is an objective continually which is being pursued as more dams are needed in the future while existing dams continue to serve their objectives. Therefore, using lessons learned from previous failures is recommended taking the question of loss of life as a main doctrine.

Earthquakes may cause failure or profound damage for dams. Factors contributing to this are, magnitude on the Richter scale, peak horizontal and vertical accelerations, time duration, in addition to the epicentral distance, nature of foundation rock, criteria of the design, and finally, if appropriate type of dam and materials has been used.  Extensive lists of dam failures and damaged once are presented with many case histories. Most failed dams were tailing dams or hydraulic fill dams or small earth fill dams, which reflect the weight of the design and construction factors. Embankment dams, normally, are less tolerant to ground shacking than concrete dams. While rockfill and RCC dams have shown good performance. The developments of design methods and criteria are traced here, from the early use of the pseudoptotic method to the more rational dynamic analysis, which is used nowadays making construction of very large safe dams in seismic regions possible. The method adopts peak ground accelerations from anticipated earthquakes as inputs to the analysis which produce a full spectrum of the factor of safety during any considered event. This has led to increased use of seismic instrumentation to produce seismographs of actual events in the free field, and on dams hit by earthquakes for comparison with outputs of this analysis and for future use for similar dams in similar circumstances, and to decide on rehabilitation measures. The safety levels to which any dam is to be designed are defined in terms of the Maximum Credible Earthquake, Safety Evaluation Earthquake, Maximum Design Earthquake and other similar terms. Dam repairs after sustaining earthquake damages are described in real cases and upgrading of older dams to withstand higher expected seismic events are also treated here and supported by case histories.

Overtopping is one of the most serious modes of failures for all dams causing great numbers of human fatalities and material damages. Statistics show that overtopping failures are the highest, especially for embankment dams. The main reason for this is the erroneous prediction of the inflow design discharge, which has resulted from lack of realistic flow data and imperfect hydrological procedures. Failure in most cases occurs when the inflow exceeds the spillway design capacity, but to a lesser extent from the buildup of very high wave setup and runs up. This has led to active efforts in upgrading dams for such occurrences, by either upgrading spillways, adding auxiliary spillways, increasing freeboard by either heightening the dams or the parapet walls on the crest. Advancement in predicting the safe inflow discharges are also made by adopting such procedures as the calculation of the Probable maximum flood based on predicting the Maximum Probable Precipitation or using statistical methods by treating long records of available flow data. Recently, another challenge has come up facing dam owners and builders who are represented by the climate change impacts on the hydrological cycle; this has put a new responsibility to the governments to issue new regulations and plans to mitigate these impacts reducing failure possibilities and improve dam safety against overtopping.

Dams construction is an old art practiced by man since thousands of years. History of dams shows great innovations in this field, but failure cases, however, indicate gaps in human knowledge of safety measures that could have stopped such failures. Available statistics show of a great boom in building dams during the past century and indicate at the same time large number of failures associated with losses in human lives and material damage. Uses of these dams during this period, apart from flood control and storing water for irrigation were also for hydropower generation, navigation, drinking water supply, recreation and in mining operations as tailing dams. Reduced dam safety leading to failures, accidents and higher safety hazards were caused by insufficient knowledge of the geological conditions and in using wrong or deficient foundation treatment. Dam safety was compromised in cases of insufficient hydrological data and design of inadequate spillways. Misinterpretation of the seismic conditions of the area and adopting seismic criteria compatible with such seismic conditions is also added as one more reasons of failures. Human mistakes and errors have undermined safety in many cases in the operation of dams leading to grave safety issues including many failures. Safety hazards also were exasperated by increasing population and land use in the downstream areas of dams and by failing to do necessary inspection and maintenance or upgrading works.  More emphasis over  dam safety measures is needed now in our existing dams and in their future development of dams if they are to continue delivering their benefit without causing harm to human communities.

Dam Safety and dam incidents are treated here looked at from the "Human Factors" perspective. An attempt is made to explore these factors as an important drive in impairing dams’ safety and increases their risks. Distinction is drawn between the "Normal Human Caused Incidents" and the "Extraordinary Human Caused Incidents" together with the description of their root origins and subsequent consequences. The first type includes unintentional mistakes, errors and flaws committed by the operators of dams inadvertently, in addition to negligence, lack of experience or overconfidence. Such failings can happen in manual operation of dams, or through the use of their Supervision, Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems as in industrial control system (ICS). They can occur also due to flaws in software or even in the application of information and communication technology (ICT) in remote control operations. As for the second group; the extraordinary human factors, they are defined here as those committed by man with the full understanding of their possible damage. They are done purposely for destabilizing dams after thoughtful and carefully meditated decision making process and they are manifested in acts of war, sabotage and terrorists actions. In this modern age, these acts are characteristics of hackers’ attacks on dam(s) operating systems. This is done through the use of cyberspace by the widespread interconnected digital technology with the accompanying advances in the communication technologies. As such, these technologies have made remote control of such systems possible. Not limited to this, dams remain now, as they were always in the past, the obvious targets in wars and conflicts to inflict losses on the enemy and to use them as weapons, and for terrorism actions for challenging governments. Examples of the aforementioned threats are described with examples given from real cases to elucidate the dangers involved. Lessons to be learned from these incidents are derived and recommendations are presented to be followed to avoid risky situations.

The awareness to tailings dam safety monitoring and reviews has increased by the catastrophes resulting from failures of such dams worsened by increasing tailings waste and construction of larger dams. The losses born by the mining industry from high costs of compensations and environmental rehabilitation work have brought this matter into focus. In the present article the need for safety monitoring programs of tailings dam is highlighted and mode of failures and factors leading to them are described. Basic principles of such programs are investigated with all phenomena needing observation described and their impacts explained. As in conventional dams this work is carried out by visual inspections and use of similar methods and instruments. In similar manners in both types of dams’ observation and measurements are done for measuring seepage water quantity and quality, phreatic surface level and pore pressure and total earth pressure values in addition to deformation measurements; and all are done by similar devices and methods such as weirs, piezometers, inclinometers, settlement plates and geodetic surveying. Basic differences between safety monitoring systems of the two types of dam, however, are presented in a tabular form. The continuity of safety monitoring of tailings dams is emphasized not only during the long construction phase but also after that in the abandonment and closure phase which can last indefinitely in order to watch for possible adverse effects on the environment and ecosystem due to the winds eroding and carrying of poisonous tailings contents, in addition to

contaminated seepage water entering surface water streams and ground water. Justifications for using real time monitoring systems for recording and transmitting all data to the control center are presented with emphasis given on savings in both labor and time and need for the discovery of warning signs enabling raising earlier the alarm of possible failure or incident and the early taking of preventive measures. In this article it is argued that, in spite of the large investment of installing and running cost of comprehensive dam safety monitoring systems in tailings dams, such costs are justified as they form only a small percentage of the total investment in the tailings facilities projects, and may save huge costs if failure does happen. Such systems may be considered as an additional insurance against such events.

Dangerous occurrences affecting dams take multiple forms, but seepage caused cases are the most numerous. Some of the cases are related to the geology of the foundation and the magnitude and type of discontinuities in the rock mass of the dam. Other are mainly due to of construction material in earth fill dams. Seepage occurs in all earth fill dams regardless of its materials, and seepage water can daylight at the downstream face causing erosion, piping and sloughing and instability; unless certain measures are taken. Instability can be controlled mainly by adding, filter material zones at the contacts with the clay core, chimney filter drain at the downstream part of the dam, filter zone or bench at the toe together with the drainage blanket under the downstream part of the dam. Seepage within the dam is enhanced by cracks which may result from uneven settlement of the dam due to different elastic behavior of the foundation materials, hydraulic fracturing, and differential settlement of parts of the dam or due to ground shaking in earthquakes. Preferential seepage paths can develop in such cracks, especially if the fill material is dispersive or suffusive. Similarly, such paths may develop along the contact surfaces of conduits installed under dams as outlet structures due to the low degree of compaction as a result of narrow trench dimensions. Using properly designed filter and drainages can reduce seepage quantities and the erosive force which causes internal erosion. In dam’s foundation grout curtains or other type of cutoffs can reduce the hydraulic head and hence uplift under the dam and hinder seepage.  Drainage, however, remains as the most efficient method in controlling this uplift in artesian conditions under dams, especially under concrete gravity dams. Generally, such drainage may take the form of drainage blanket and use of filters material. 

Sedimentation of reservoirs has its negative impacts on dams, first by reducing useful storage, altering the benefit/cost ratio originally calculated for the dam, and second by reducing the dams’ capacity for flood routing; increasing flooding hazards on the dam itself and for the downstream. More problems can be created by sediments and floating debris during floods on outlet structures by clogging them and thus creating dangerous situations, or damage trash screens leading to even more problems. If these debris and coarse sediments are allowed in, then they may damage dam structures such as gates, spillways intakes in addition to chutes, stilling basins and power penstocks by the mechanical abrasion impacts of such sediments on them. Frequent inspections, especially after floods must be made to ensure proper functioning of such structure and take actions for reducing the damage. In small reservoirs, dredging; although it adds to maintenance cost, may ease the problem, but in very large reservoirs, this may prove unpractical. Designers, therefore, have a duty to consider sedimentation problem seriously in the initial stages of design by: checking the anticipated accumulation of sediments, allowing enough storage free from siltation, foreseeing their negative impacts on intakes and outlet structures and taking design measures to reduce these impacts. At the same time, dam stability calculations shall have to provision for the anticipated new conditions of silting up at the face of the dam. Operators of dams, on the other hand, shall have to keep open eyes for all the negative issues created by sediments and floating debris, repairing damages caused by them and take measures to reduce their impacts in the future.

Concrete dams age as all man-made structures. Being subject to various external influences and internal reactions their ability to withstand them diminishes with time. Description of these factors are given here. The manifestations of aging signs are cracking, expansion, spalling and scaling of concrete surfaces, change of color and efflorescence, gelatinous discharge, crumbling of concrete masses, in addition to abrasion and cavitation of surfaces. The mechanisms of the actions leading to these damages are described and supported by many examples and case studies. The general conclusion drawn is that nothing can be made to extend the lives of old dam indefinitely, but a lot can be done to elongate their useful service with repair and upgrading works until technical considerations prove them unfeasible or their cost become prohibitive.

Embankment dams undergo aging process due to the impact of different factors which can be attributed to geology of the site, design of the dam, materials selection and procedures followed in constructions. In the foundation the presence of faults or shearing planes, karst, compressible clayey material, soluble rock, and soft rock may establish conditions leading to high total settlement or differential settlements of the dam and its cracking. Deficient and deteriorating seepage control measures such as grout curtains or diaphragms enhance seepage flow leading to internal erosion and piping which endanger dams’ stability. Improper filling materials used such as dispersive clays and gap graded granular material show their bad influence after long time by creating conditions inducive to internal erosion and piping. Use of improperly designed and placed filter zones and drainage blankets can end in clogging of such filters and drainage blankets leading to the rise of the phreatic surface level and increasing uplift causing again conditions of internal erosion and piping and undermine stability. This work attempts to give an overview of these conditions and cite many case studies of rehabilitation works carried out in dams after long years of service. The conclusion reached is that rehabilitation works if done early when problems are discovered play well to elongate the service life of dams, but normally they require large investments. Sooner or later owners of such old dams will come to realize that more rehabilitation works, neither technically nor economically, are feasible and that more of such works are not possible. In which case they will come think seriously of decommission such expired dams.

Dam safety concerns do not stop at site selection, or the design and construction stages of a dam, but continue throughout its whole life. Seeing to safety issues of any dam is done by following up its behavior through visual observation supplemented and enriched by data collection from all the devices installed on or implanted in a dam to follow its reactions to the forces and conditions in action. Analysis of the accumulated data will show the safety level and the need or, otherwise, of any remedial works. Using measuring devices to quantifying seepage conditions at any dam and correlating this with water levels’ fluctuations is the first main issue that concerns dam safety. Added to this, measurement of pore water and total earth pressure in earthfill dams, temperature measurements in concrete dams, uplift and displacement measurements, and measurements of stresses and strains can all give good pictures of what is happening inside the dam and/or its foundation in both types of dams. In the following work, a summary of typical instrumentations and monitoring used in evaluating causes of common problems is given. Moreover, requirements for good instrumentation program are explained and the methods of data collection, whether manual, or use of stand-alone loggers and real-time monitoring networks are touched upon. The various devices in current use are described in more details. Actual examples of monitoring systems in existing dams are presented to show the value and importance of these systems to the safety of these dams.

Seismic instrumentation of dams and reservoirs sites is accepted today as a valuable tool to understand significant seismic hazards facing existing dams or future planed dams. With the advent of digital seismic accelerometers and recorders, it can now be used today as an integral part of dam safety monitoring systems. Outputs of these instruments help in understanding the dynamic response of dams during earthquake, assessing the damage caused by such events and determining required upgrading works necessary for existing dams and designing of safer dams in the future. Measuring and recording by strong motion seismographs covers the induced Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA), velocity and displacement recorded on time scale to indicate the intensity and frequency of ground vibration at the site during seismic events. Seismometers for such measurements and recordings have undergone considerable evolution and there exist today a variety of these instruments with high degree of refinement which can even provide for remote sensing. In this work, this development is outlined and examples of seismic instrumentation in strategic dams are described. Damages to actual concrete and embankment dams of various types are described indicating the associated PGAs experienced during the mentioned earthquakes. Damages in the form of cracking, increased seepage, additional settlements and displacements are described to show type and extent of possible consequences of such events on dams. The reached conclusion is that seismic instrumentation systems are desirable and highly recommendable for all types of dams; existing and future ones and their high cost is justified by the service they provide.

Geological hazards that can face dams are very important in deciding their safety and successful performance during their lifetime without excessive and costly repairs. Recognizing such hazards must be made at an early stage of the investigation works. Geological hazards which have caused dam failures or resulted in redundant reservoirs can vary between presence of karsts in the reservoir or in dam foundation, presence of soluble rocks, hidden faults, or the presence of hazardous materials. Learning from case histories of dam failures and incidents is important to avoid problems raised by these hazards. Many such cases are presented in the preceding paragraphs to show the variety of such problems and help understand their nature. These case histories, can help the designer in the selection of the most appropriate type of dam suited for a particular geological condition, avoiding dangerous situations such as but not limited to excessive or differential settlement. Understanding the real conditions of foundation decides also the efficiency, scope and type of foundation treatment. The Teton dam failure given in this paper illustrates one case when such understanding was missing. In any case, the active participation of geologists working with the designers in all stages of dam construction process is very important to eliminate or reduce to safe limits any geological hazard that can the future dam.

When a dam is built, its safety becomes a constant concern for the owner, the public and for governments. Therefore, continuous observation through routine inspections and safety reviews become necessary. Acting as protectors of public safety, governments and professional organizations save no effort in the promulgation of legislations and laying out guidelines for such inspections and reviews. These issues are discussed here starting with the basic first step of visual inspections by the operators and the follow up of detailed safety reviews by specialists. Careful visual inspections assisted by instrumentation measurements may reveal an early negative issue such as, but not limited to, increased seepage, increased uplift pressure, signs of weakness like cracking in the body of the dam, or dams’ slope sloughing, and even damaged hydraulic control equipment. Documenting and reporting these observation helps in taking remedial measures in good time and may lead to more intensive safety reviews. Suggested check lists for the inspection engineers are given here, but these may be tailored for each dam according to its needs. These lists cover issues common to both embankment and concrete dams, and include other specific issues related to each type of them. Metal equipment take their share by listing such areas as corrosion, fatigue and cracking, tear, and wear and so on. Instrumentation measurements are also given their due consideration by giving brief mention of types of measurements needed and points to be observed in instrumentation control work. Finally, guidelines, rules, and legislations for Dam Safety Reviews are generally discussed giving examples from four countries in the world.

Many old dams in the world today may not be safe enough and represent threats to the communities they serve. They have reached the end of their technical and economic lives making upgrading them questionable. This raises the question of decommissioning or removing them open for further discussion. In this paper the issues related to keeping old dams are discussed showing with one example that the soaring costs of upgrades make it impossible to perform for countries with limited resources without outside financial support. An explanation is also given to show how even in rich countries this is met by budgeting obstacles. Other objections to the presence of these dams, added to the safety question which support of dam’s removal are discussed. They include the accumulated damage they have caused to the ecosystems such as siltation and fish migration. An emphasis is put on the need for intensive studies required before removing any such dam in order to mitigate any negative impact subsequent to such removal; and many actual examples are given to illustrate this.

The use of geophysical methods in dam sites investigations and safety monitory has proved their good value and versatility in many earthfill dam sites as early as the 1920s. In the following years great development has occurred in the methods, application procedures and tools used. They may be considered today as good ways for carrying out observation tasks on existing dams in non-intrusive and much faster and cheaper ways than the traditional geotechnical methods. It is possible using them to discover anomalies in the dam body or its foundation at an early stage and allowing quick intervention repair works. These methods seek to register and present variations in the basic geotechnical material properties in dams such as; bulk density, moisture content, elasticity, mechanical properties of rocks, electrical resistivity and mineralogy and magnetic properties and so forth. Such variations can indicate increasing seepage flow, progression in cracks’ sizes, formation of voids, caverns and other instability manifestations. Depending on how any investigation is carried out and the targeted anomaly, there is now selection of these methods such as: Electromagnetic Profiling (EM), Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), Self- Potential (SP), Ground Penetration Radar (GPR), variety of Seismic Methods (SM) which can be applied using such equipment as in Seismic refraction, Seismic Reflection, Multi Analysis of Rayleigh surface waves (MASW) instruments, or using Refraction Micrometer (ReMi), macro-gravity method, and Cross-Hole Seismic Tomography. In addition, Temperature Measurements and other less used methods can be used like Microgravity measurement, Magnetic Profiling and Radio

Magnetotelluric methods. An attempt is made here to cover the details of these methods, their advantages and limitations and to prove their usefulness in many dam sites all over the world. One observed issue is their adaptability to embankment dams more than to concrete dams and their popularity for checking seepage related problems and material changes within dam bodies and their foundations such as formation of voids and sinkholes.

Mosul Dam is an earth fill dam located on the River Tigris northern part of Iraq. The capacity of its reservoir is 11.11 billion cubic meters which makes it the fourth biggest dam in the Middle East. From geological perspective, the dam is located on double plunging anticlines. The rocks of the site are mainly composed of highly jointed and karistified alternating beds of limestones, gysum and marls, since the impoundment of the reservoir seepage of water was recognized under the foundation of the dam. To stop or minimize the seepage, intensive grouting operations were conducted. Recent investigations and evaluation of the conditions of the dam indicate that it is in a critical situation. In this paper, consequences of the dam failure are discussed and possible solutions are given.

Climate Change which results from global warming is affecting the Tigris and Euphrates River basins in similar ways to all other parts of the Middle East and the East Mediterranean region. This contains also what is historically known as the “Fertile Crescent”, which is threatened in the same way as the other parts and may disappear altogether. The climate change is manifested in increased temperatures, reduced precipitation in addition to erratic weather patterns and decreased annual stream flow of the two rivers. These phenomena have been markedly noticed during the last decades of the last century. Studies show that these changes are linked also to the variations of North Atlantic Pressure Oscillation (NAO) induced by Global Climate Change. Modeling studies on the future trends, in trying to define the magnitude of the changes to be anticipated, reveal clearly that these negative impacts are continuous in the future. But, the widely ranging projections and interpretations of different sources depict an uncertain future for the basin’s climatic conditions and indicate theneed for further modeling studies to reach more definitive conclusions. These studies show however, a drastic decline of the Euphrates and Tigris water resources at the end of this century by something like (30 to 70) %; as compared to their resources in the last three decades of the previous century. The wide variations in the projections emphasize the need of further future work on this matter. All in all, these studies should bring alarm to all responsible governments in the region to resort to long range planning by adopting rational policies in soils and water resources management to mitigate the adverse impacts that could hit human societies in these events.

Mosul and Haditha Dams are built on relatively weak foundations. Both of these foundations suffer from extensive karsts which had demanded intensive foundation treatment works among other design precautions. The karst forms; however, are of different origins, activities, nature and shapes. The foundation treatment in both dams was done mainly by constructing deep grout curtains along with other secondary grouting works. Reducing uplift pressure under the dam and cutting down on seepage losses were the major considerations in these works. An additional important requirement in Mosul Dam was to reduce the permeability of the rock formation in the foundations to such a low limit that it can stop the dissolution of gypsum beds present there. This objective; unfortunately, failed due to the lithological composition of this foundation and the presence of many brecciated gypsum beds, which could not be treated successfully. This had resulted in a comprehensive grouting maintenance program which continuous up to date with the everlasting danger of dam failure. On the other hand, in Haditha dam no such complication occurs as the dam had its foundations mainly in limestone. Proper investigation and good planning and performance of the grouting works in this dam contributed highly to its success. Selecting the deep grout curtain as anti-seepage measure in Mosul Dam was not a very wise decision and constructing a positive cutoff in the form of diaphragm wall could have been the proper choice. Good and deep understanding of all geological data can contribute to the success of a dam design or, otherwise it may lead to unsafe one.

Badush Dam is believed to be the first dam in the world which is designed to protect from the flood wave which could result from the collapse of another dam; in this case Mosul Dam.  Badush Dam construction was started in 1988 but it was stopped two years later due to unexpected reasons. From that time on many attempts were made to resume construction without success. Its value was stressed in a multitude of studies and technical reports amid conflict of opinions on how to do this.  The original design of the dam as a protection dam was intended to have a large part of the reservoir empty to accommodate the volume of the expected flood wave for only a few months during which time it’s content are released in a controlled and safe way to the downstream. The lower part of Badush Dam which has a limited height continues before and after this event to act as a low head power generation facility. Among the later studies on the dam, there were suggestions to introduce changes to the design of the unfinished dam which covered the foundation treatment and also asked for constructing a diaphragm in the dam. A long controversy is still going on with many possibilities but with no hope to reach a final solution soon. Any rational solution must consider both Badush Dam and Mosul Dam together as the safety issue involves both of them. This paper may be seen in six paragraphs. The first three describe in brief the history, the outline design and foundation treatment of the dam, therefore, setting the background to follow the conflicting views over its purpose and future which is discussed in the following two paragraphs. The final paragraph is devoted to discussion and our conclusions.

Mosul and Haditha Dams are built on relatively weak foundations. Both of these foundations suffer from extensive karsts which had demanded intensive foundation treatment works among other design precautions. The karst forms; however, are of different origins, activities, nature and shapes. The foundation treatment in both dams was done mainly by constructing deep grout curtains along with other secondary grouting works. Reducing uplift pressure under the dam and cutting down on seepage losses were the major considerations in these works. An additional important requirement in Mosul Dam was to reduce the permeability of the rock formation in the foundations to such a low limit that it can stop the dissolution of gypsum beds present there. This objective; unfortunately, failed due to the lithological composition of this foundation and the presence of many brecciated gypsum beds, which could not be treated successfully. This had resulted in a comprehensive grouting maintenance program which continuous up to date with the everlasting danger of dam failure. On the other hand, in Haditha dam no such complication occurs as the dam had its foundations mainly in limestone. Proper investigation and good planning and performance of the grouting works in this dam contributed highly to its success. Selecting the deep grout curtain as anti-seepage measure in Mosul Dam was not a very wise decision and constructing a positive cutoff in the form of diaphragm wall could have been the proper choice. Good and deep understanding of all geological data can contribute to the success of a dam design or, otherwise it may lead to unsafe one.

This study presents a nonlinear analysis for square reinforced concrete (RC) foundation slab with bars used with both unsaturated and saturated soils in order to investigate, which response is affected by loading. Different parametric studies are undertaken in this study to determine the effect of load-displacement relationships for RC member or foundation with different cases such as (the distance of bars, diameters of bars reinforcement, types of reinforcement bars steel bars and geogrid reinforcement, yield stress for reinforcement and modulus of elasticity with compressive strength for concrete). A finite element model by ABAQUS software program is used to predict the load versus vertical displacement response of the tested RC foundations with soil by using other researchers´ experimental results. The present finite element models account for the constituent load-displacement behaviour between the RC foundations with soil and the effective load. The numerical results were compared with the experimental results obtained from other research, and good correlations were obtained. The models developed in this study can accurately capture the behaviour and predict the load-displacement of RC foundation with soil. This study shows that geogrid reinforcement enhanced the capacity of the foundation or member when used with different ratios of steel bars in soil and this provides a sustainable solution by reducing steel reinforcement. This geogrid ratio the reinforcement, while the member in saturated soil

is less strong than it when in unsaturated soil.

Nonlinear analysis for reinforced concrete members (R.C.) with two types of bars also with unsaturated and saturated soils was used to represent the models. To control the corrosion in the steel bar that used in R.C. member and decrease the cost, the geogrid with steel bar reinforcement are taken in this study to determine the effect of load-deflection and stress-strain relationships. The finite element method is used to model the R.C. member, bars and soil. A three-dimensional finite element model by ABAQUS version 6.9 software program is used to predict the load versus deflection and stress versus strain response with soil. The results for the model in this study are compared with the experimental results from other research, and the results are very good. Therefore, it was concluded that the models developed in this study can accurately capture the behavior and predict the load-carrying capacity of such R.C. members with soil and the maximum stresses with strains. The results show plastic strain values in the R.C. member with saturated soil are larger than their values in unsaturated soil about (54%, 58%, and 55% and 52%) when the geogrid ratios are (without geogrid, 60%, 40% and 20%) respectively, with the same values of stresses.

The dynamic of nutrient cycling is a critical factor in riparian regions. It is essential to understand the behaviour of riparian areas in the maintenance and management river ecosystem. Sediment load, nutrients, and pathogens are transported to water bodies through land drainage and riverside flow. The classification of environmental agencies was poor for them. In this study, a qualitative investigation was implemented to determine the relationship between these practices and variations in nutrient retention for several types of riverbank soil. Also, the riverbank soils were including soil covered by wild reed plants. All the field works were along the Euphrates River in three locations. Moreover, study the variation in the content of vegetation riverbank soils from nitrogen, organic matter (OM), potassium (K), phosphorus (P), and PH. The results presented that riverbanks consider important locations for nutrient retention. Whilst agricultural activities have minimized the content of soil of OM (30%), N (49%), and K (3%), in subsurface soil but not so great lowering in surface layers. In contrast, management practices and human activities such as burning caused an apparent increase of OM (4%), N (77%), and a clear reduction in P (12%) content at both surface and subsurface layers of soil. Under all circumstances, riverbank soils showed a relative increase of nutrients at wet toe-slopes. Furthermore, it is noted that riparian vegetation and aquatic plants played a significant role by causing critical changes in riparian sides or even contrary effects on riverbank management practices and destruction of natural soil nutrient conditions. Thus, it should be carefully considered when evaluating the ecological impacts of riparian disturbances.

In times of water scarcity, groundwater is a vital resource that provides an alternate source of water for human consumption. In Iraq, the quality of rivers has been greatly affected by climate change and the dwindling availability of surface water. Examining and classifying the groundwater in this region is now vital. The present study sought to incorporate the groundwater property data (drinking purpose) with a geographic information system (GIS). Eleven variables were measured in 25 wells to investigate the physio-chemical properties around the Babylon province of Iraq. Based on the acceptability of groundwater for drinking, the GWQI was categorized into four primary groups in the results. Approximately 28% of the twenty-five wells (1811.04 km2) are of excellent quality, 24% are of good quality (1552.3 km2), 44% are of low quality (2845.9 km2), and 4% are extremely contaminated. (2587.2 km2). The average GWQI for the entire study region was 110.7, making it inappropriate for human consumption. It has been determined that approximately 52% of the groundwater from the examined wells can be deemed safe for consumption, although certain measurements surpass the permissible limits. To guarantee residents in these areas are supplied with water of superior quality and safety, treatment of the tested groundwater is recommended before use.

A well-known tool for assessing the quality of surface water is the water quality index (WQI) model. In this study, the WQI was generated to classify the water flowing in the Euphrates River in Qadisiyah Province. To develop analytical models, a connection between the findings and satellite images was developed. It is possible to determine what category a river’s water quality for domestic use will fall into. The Weighted Arithmetic Water Quality Index (WWQI), Canadian Water Quality Index (CWQI),and Bascarón Water Quality Index (BWQI) were used to evaluate and examine the suitability of the Euphrates River in the city by analysing the water quality of samples taken from the five locations (Muhanawia (L1), Salahia (L2), Shamiyah (L3), Shamiyah (L4), Gammas (L5)). The hydrogen ionspH, temperature T, dissolved oxygen DO, nitrate NO3, calcium Ca, magnesium Mg, total hardness TH, potassium K, sodium Na, sulfate SO4, chlorine Cl, total dissolved solids TDS, and electrical conductivity ECvalues are provided for 2020 and 2021. Results showed the Euphrates River was deemed severely contaminated at location Gammas (L5) but acceptable at location Muhanawia (L1). During the research phase, the water quality for the Euphrates achieved a maximum of 87.43 using the CWQI for Muhanawia (L1) in 2021 and a minimum of 15.6 using the BWQI for Gammas (L5) in 2021. The excessive sulphate, total dissolved solids, calcium, and total hardness concentrations led to the low WQI. The results are analysed using a GIS, and a network database connected to the GIS is required to utilize its analytical capabilities and the geographically scattered data throughout the study region. The Water Quality Index (WQI) is not suitable for drinking, as it is below the average of the World Health Organization (WHO) suggestions.

Iraq relies in its water resources on the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates and their tributaries. It used to be considered rich in its water resources until 1970. Then, the water quantity started to decrease due to the construction of hydrological projects within the riparian countries as well as the effect of climate change. In addition, water management planning in Iraq requires number of strategies that can help to overcome the water shortage problem. In this work, the negative problems are discussed and solutions are given to solve the water shortage problem.

Iraq relies in its water resources on the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates and their tributaries. The country is located in the lower part of the catchment area of these rivers. The long-term average annual flow that enters Iraq from these rivers is about 30 BCM from the Euphrates, 21.2 BCM from the Tigris, 24.78 BCM from tributaries and 7 BCM from side valleys between Iraq and Iran. Now, the flow of these rivers is decreasing due to climate change and hydrological projects established in the upper parts of the catchment. It is indicated that precipitation will decrease by 15% - 25% during this century and that means that the flow of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers will be reduced by 29% - 73%. This will cause a grave depletion of groundwater resources. Türkiye is trying to finish building 22 dams and 19 hydropower stations. Iran built 12 dams and diverted the flow of some tributaries inside Iran and blocked all the valleys that contribute water from its land to Iraq. For these reasons, Iraq is experiencing shortages in its water resources and there is some sort of friction and conflict between riparian countries within the Tigris and Euphrates basins because each country tries to secure its water resources. In this research, the factors affecting the hydro politics within these basins are water scarcity, climate change and hydrological projects, population growth rate, energy issues, water mismanagement, economic changes, expansions of projects and technology, political issues, international water laws and public awareness. In case the situation remains as it is, Iraq will experience many problems in health, environment, economy, and security. To solve the problem of water scarcity in Iraq, two parallel lines of action are to be considered. These are: 1) Reach agreements with Riparian Parties; 2) Develop a long-term strategy that should take the following: a) Rehabilitating of existing dams, barrages & pump stations, b) Improving the efficiency of diversion and supply, c) Using of nonconventional water resources, d) Irrigation modernization using suitable techniques, e) Developing a public awareness program, f) Developing human resources program and establishing an agenda for training, g) Developing an agricultural plan that takes into consideration the possibility of reducing crops that consume a lot of water.

Euphrates and Tigris Rivers are the longest Rivers in southwest Asia. The main utilizers of the water of these rivers and tributaries are Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq. The two rivers rise in Turkey, which makes it the riparian hegemon. Some of the tributaries of the Tigris and Shat Al-Arab Rivers rise in Iran, which makes it the riparian hegemon for these rivers. Iraq and Syria are the lower countries in the basin and for this reason, they always to ensure the quantity of water required to satisfy their requirements. All these countries are in the Middle East, which characterized by its shortage of water resources. Since the 1970s conflict between riparian counties were noticed due to population growth rates, food security, energy needs, economic and technological development, political fragmentation, international water laws, water and management availability and public awareness. These caused tensions, which sometimes escalated to the verge of war. To solve this conflict a mediator is required that has the capability to bring all countries concerned to the negotiation table. Syria and Iraq are to give Turkey and Iran some incentives to cooperate. Furthermore, all counties are to adopt prudent strategic plan based on comprehensive resources development to ensure good water management and minimum water loses and waste. This due to the fact that modeling studies of the future suggest that water shortage problem will intensify.