Sustainability and Water Resources Management in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions

The deficiency of freshwater resources in arid and semi-arid areas constitutes the main deterrent to sustainable development. The rapid population growth, development in urbanization, and climate change pose considerable challenges to sustainability and water resources management. The study aims to assess the sustainability of water storage in three small earth dams, namely the Al-Rutbah, Horan 2, and Horan 3 impoundment sites in the Wadi Horan catchment area, in the western desert of Iraq. In 2019 and 2020, the usage of water, losses, and residual capacities during the drought period (May-September) were assessed, and the seasonal fluctuations in reservoir storage were estimated using remote sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In order to assess the quantities of evaporation, infiltration, and release, as well as to ascertain the correlations between area, volume, and elevation, Landsat 8 images and dam technical reports were used. According to the findings, the storage levels of Al-Rutbah Dam are much higher in comparison to the other two dams with 2019 and 2020 recording 18 and 12 MCM respectively. The promise of sustainability was associated with livestock assistance and agriculture production: Horan 2 and Horan 3 could practically be used to water animals while Al-Rutba Dam could irrigate 800 dunams of land intended to produce a combination of summer and winter crops. The combination of RS and GIS is effective in the analysis of the sustainability of the dry and data-less regions in the region, where it is difficult to access the field and install hydrological monitoring stations, the analysis shows. As a consequence, Al-Rutbah Dam is of significant importance in the management of limited water resources as well as food security of the rural population. The recommendations to ensure water sustainability over the long term in the Western Desert of Iraq: Extending the scope of these tests to other dams in the desert, developing and strengthening monitoring networks and the integration of climate change projections.