Journal of Environmental Protection, 2011, 2, 316-322
doi:10.4236/jep.2011.23035 Published Online May 2011 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/jep)
1
On the Current and Restoration Conditions of the
Southern Iraqi Marshes: Application of the CCME
WQI on East Hammar Marsh
Azhar Al-Saboonchi1, Abdul-Razak M. Mohamed1, Abdul Hameed M. Jawad Alobaidy2,
Haider S. Abid3, Bahram K. Maulood4
1Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources, University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq; 2Environmental Research Center, University of
Technology, Baghdad, Iraq; 3Department of Biology, College of Science for Women, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq; 4Twin
Rivers Institute, American University of Iraq-Sulaimani, Sulaimani, Iraq.
Received January 9th, 2011; revised February 17th, 2011; accepted March 26th, 2011.
ABSTRACT
Water quality of the East Hammar marsh after restoration was assessed by using the Canadian Council of Ministers of
the Environment Water Quality Index (CCME WQI). The model was applied in two approaches based on the historical
data and the CCME aquatic life guidelines as objectives. Variables included in the index calculation were Water Tem-
perature, Dissolved Oxygen, Salinity, pH value, Total Nitrogen, Ammonia, Nitrate, Phosphorus and Sodium. The
CCME WQI analysis in both approaches reflected th at water quality of the East Hammar marsh is ra ted as poor based
on 200 5-2006 data, meaning that the conditions of the marsh are often depart from natural or desirable levels particu-
larly in respect to sodium and nitrogenous compounds; it simply has not recovered yet. The results reflect that the
marsh area is still far from the current guideline criteria and, too far from restoration.
Keywords: WQI, Iraqi Marshes, Restoration, Nature Iraq
1. Introduction
Water is an essential natural resource for sustaining life
and environment, which is always thought to be available
in abundance and free gift of nature. With the increase of
living population it has been put under tremendous pres-
sure due to human and other biological activities [1].
Within an aquatic ecosystem, a complex interaction of
physical and biochemical cycles exists, anthropogenic
stresses, particularly the interaction of chemicals into
water may adversely affect many species of aquatic flora
and fauna. Water quality criteria for protection of aquatic
life may take into account only physic-chemical parame-
ters which tend to protect and maintain aquatic life [2].
East Hammar marsh is situated south of the Euphrates,
extending from near Nasiriyah in the west to the outskirts
of Basrah on the Shatt al-Arab in the east (Figure 1).
The marsh area historically consisted of 2800 km² of
permanent marsh and lake, expanding to more than 4500
km² during periods of seasonal and temporary inundation.
Hammar marsh is the largest water body on the lower
Euphrates. In the late 1980s, it was approximately 120
km long and 25 km wide. Maximum water depth in the
lake ranged from 1.8 to 3 m [3].
During the 1990s, the East Hammar marsh completely
dried out as a result of local drainage structures built
throughout government policy. These structures included
two dams on the Euphrates, one at Nasiriyah and one at
Medina to reduce water flow into the marsh area; sluice
gates and dams placed on distributaries of the Euphrates
to restrict water flow; and two canals and a pipeline that
diverted water from the Euphrates and agricultural
drainage water away from the marshlands. In 2002, only
14.5% of the East Hammar marshes remained [4]. In
2003 and 2004, the local Marsh dwellers and Iraq’s Min-
istry of Water Resources began to divert water back into
the marshlands through opening sluice gates, breaching
embankments, and other actions along the southern side
(Garmat Ali marsh). Water from the Euphrates is return-
ing from the western and northern sides of Hammar and
from Shatt al-Arab through Garmat Ali to the southeast.
As of August 2005, the marshes had recovered almost

On the Current and Restoration Conditions of the Southern Iraqi Marshes: Application of 317
the CCME WQI on East Hammar Marsh
40% of their former levels, according to UNEP. Satellite
imagery shows the southern marshlands now occupy
about 3500 km2 after having dwindled to just 760 km2.
The case of marshlands should be considered as one of
the unique ecosystems which had been deliberately dried
up for more than a decade. Ultimately, the whole eco-
system demolished. However, after 2003 the policy was
to restore the marshes again. Therefore, continuous
monitoring and ecological studies were among the main
tools to follow up the restoration process and monitoring
the successive improvement of the status of the area.
Such a phenomenon urged the application of new tools to
analyze the large amount of data collected through the
monitor surveys. There is considerable debate as to
which measure should be included in the derivation of an
index for water quality [5]. Despite the debate, there is
some agreement that water quality indices (WQIs) are
useful tools for comparing water quality across systems
and overtime. They can provide a benchmark for evalu-
ating successes and failures of management strategies
aimed at improving water quality [6].
WQI is a tool that is increasingly used to solve such
problems of data management in different areas in the
world. A number of indices have been developed to
summarize water quality data in an easily expressible
and easily understood format [1,7-11]. In general, water
quality indices incorporate data from multiple water
quality parameters into a mathematical equation that
rates the health of ecosystem with a single number. That
number is placed on a relative scale to justify the water
quality in categories ranging from very bad to excellent.
This number can be easily interpreted and understood by
political decision-makers, non-technical water managers,
and the general publics.
Among the developed models was that informed by
the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment
(CCME). The CCME WQI is based on a formula devel-
oped by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment,
Lands and Parks that was modified by Alberta Environ-
ment, Canada. This index doesn’t give any weighted
numbers but treats the values of parameters in mathe-
matical ways to ensure that all parameters contribute
adequately in the final number of the index. This model
is flexible, allowing one to choose the parameters to use
and standardize them according to the objectives and
area of study [9].
One of the new projects adopted by Nature Iraq (NI)
in early 2008 is the Data Indices Project. In July 2008,
NI in cooperation with Iraqi experts in the field of envi-
ronmental research from different Iraqi universities and
institutes discussed a scheme in which the data collected
can be easily summarized and converted into an index or
indices digested by scientists as well as decision makers.
The experts suggested starting a new task that aims at
standardization of the methods used all over Iraq and
apply the models of the Water Quality Index (WQI) and
the Indices of Biological Integrity (IBI) to study the dif-
ferent hydrological and biological aspects of aquatic en-
vironments.
In this study, the CCME WQI has been applied in two
approaches, one in respect to historical data and the sec-
ond based on the Canadian guidelines for the protection
of aquatic life. Such an attempt is applied for the first
time in Iraq to evaluate the water quality in the marshes
after restoration.
2. Materials and Methods
The data of ARID [12] and Tahir et al. [13] which were
collected after restoration are used in the present study
(Table 1). Water measurements were made monthly
from two selected sites in the East Hammar (Figure 1):
The Saddah site (30˚40'04''N, 47˚38'06''E), represents a
natural marsh environment and Burkah site (30˚40'22''N,
47˚33'03''E) was previously desiccated, but it is now
open shallow water with scattered islands of Typha
domingensis and Myrophyllum verticillatum. The period
examined is eleven months (September, 2005 to July,
2006) and the sampling frequency at these sites is
monthly for all variables.
Figure 1. Map of the East Hammar Marsh, south Iraq il-
lustrating the study sites.

On the Current and Restoration Conditions of the Southern Iraqi Marshes: Application of
318
the CCME WQI on East Hammar Marsh
In this study, the CCME Water Quality Index was ap-
plied and tested for the East Hammar marsh using two
types of criteria. First, historical published data before
the drainage [14-19] (referred to as objective in Table 1 ).
This model was called as the Restoration-Based CCME
WQI since it compares the data collected after restora-
tion to the historical data. For this analysis, index scores
were determined for nine constituents (Table 1): Water
Temp., DO, Salinity, pH, TN, NH4-N, NO3-N, PO4-P and
Na+. Second, the CCME guidelines for the protection of
aquatic life [20] (referred to as objective in Table 2) and
this model was referred to as the Guidelines-Based
CCME WQI since it compares the same recent data to
the current Canadian guidelines. For this analysis, index
scores were determined for eight constituents (Table 2):
Water Temp., DO, pH, TN, NH4-N, NO3-N, PO4-P and
Na+.
Essentially, the CCME WQI model consists of three
measures of variance from selected water quality objec-
tives (Scope; Frequency; Amplitude). The “Scope (F1)”
represents the extent of water quality guideline
non-compliance over the time period of interest. The
“Frequency (F2)” represents the percentage of individual
tests that do not meet objectives (“failed tests”). The
“Amplitude (F3)” represents the amount by which failed
tests do not meet their objectives. These three factors
combine to produce a value between 0 and 100 that
represents the overall water quality. The formulation of
the WQI as described in the Canadian Water Quality
Index 1.0 – Technical Report is as follows [9]. The
measure for scope is F1 which is calculated as follows:
1=
Number of failed variables
FTotal number of variables100 (1)
The measure for frequency is F2 which is calculated as
follows:
2=
Number of failed tests
FTotal number of tests100 (2)
The measure for amplitude is F3. This is calculated in
three steps:
1) Excursion is the number of times by which an indi-
vidual concentration is greater than (or less than, when
the objective is a minimum) the objective.
When the test value must not exceed the objective:
1
i
ij
Failed test value
excursion Objective





 (3)
When the test value must not fall below the objective:
1
j
ii
Objective
excursion Failed test value





2) The normalized sum of excursions, nse, is the col-
lective amount by which individual tests are out of com-
pliance. This is calculated by summing the excursions of
individual tests from their objectives and dividing by the
total number of tests (both those meeting objectives and
those not meeting objectives).
()
n
i
nseexcurison iNumber of tests





 (5)
3) F
3 is calculated by an asymptotic function that
scales the normalized sum of the excursions from objec-
tives to yield a range from 0 to 100.
30.01 0.01
nse
Fnse  (6)
The WQI is then calculated as:
222
123
100 1.732
FFF
WQI 





(7)
This score is then ranked into one of the following five
categories: excellent (WQI = 95 - 100), good (WQI =
80 - 94), fair (WQI = 65 - 79), marginal (WQI = 45 - 64)
and poor (WQI = 0 - 44).
3. Results
3.1. Restoration-Based CCME WQI Analysis
By applying the equations in the materials and methods
section above, the values of F1 and F2 were 88.89 and
62.63, respectively. (Table 2; bolded values represent
variables not meeting the objectives). The (nse) value
was calculated to be 3.07 while F3 value was 75.43 (Ta-
ble 3).
Once the factors have been obtained, the index itself
could be calculated by summing the three factors as if
they were vectors. The sum of the squares of each factor
is therefore equal to the square of the index. This ap-
proach treats the index as a three-dimensional space de-
fined by each factor along one axis. With this model, the
index changes in direct proportion to changes in all three
factors. Accordingly, the final WQI value was calculated
to be 23.60, which reflect poor water quality conditions.
3.2. Guideline-Based CCME WQI Analysis

(4)
For this analysis, the values of F1 and F2 were 37.5 and
38.64, respectively. The value of nse was 710.53 and,
hence, F3 value was found to be 99.86 (Table 4). The
overall WQI value was 34.49 which also an indicator of
oor water quality conditions in this area. p

On the Current and Restoration Conditions of the Southern Iraqi Marshes: Application of
the CCME WQI on East Hammar Marsh
319
Table 1. Physical and chemical properties of water at East Hammar Marsh during 2005-2006 as compared to the historical
objectives.
Date Water Temp
(oC)
DO
(mg/L)
Salinity
(%o) pH TN (mg/L)
NH4-N
(mg/L)
NO3-N
(µg/L)
PO4-P
(µg/L)
Na
(mg/L)
Sept. 05 26.93 8.50 2.05 8.10 2.10 0.95 22.00 0.51 394.5
Oct. 05 24.10 9.15 1.79 7.95 2.82 0.85 27.70 0.77 363.5
Nov. 05 23.66 11.25 1.44 7.83 3.86 0.51 31.75 0.85 341.9
Dec. 05 17.65 11.70 1.35 7.80 4.10 0.47 34.00 0.88 310.5
Jan. 06 16.10 12.03 1.15 7.70 4.40 0.40 29.80 0.93 280.5
Feb. 06 17.20 11.15 1.35 7.80
3.50 0.45 25.10 0.65 295.0
Mar. 06 19.65 10.15 1.60 7.80 2.70 0.58 21.58 0.46 310.0
Apr. 06 22.65 9.00 1.85 7.90 2.25 0.68 19.90 0.36 340.0
May 06 26.70 7.95 2.20 7.90 1.70 0.93 16.85 0.39 365.5
Jun. 06 28.45 6.95 2.55 8.10 1.35 2.40 23.85 0.49 382.0
Jul. 06 32.45 6.40 2.90 8.15 0.96 3.70 33.95 0.60 400.0
Objectives 22.67 6.90 1.70 7.1-8.30.935 0.05 5.71 0.52 161.0
Bolded values do not meet the objectives
Table 2. Physical and chemical properties of water at East Hammar Marsh during 2005-2006 as compared to the CCME
guidelines for a quatic life objectives.
Date Water Temp
(˚C)
DO
(mg/L) pH TN (mg/L)
NH4-N
(mg/L)
NO3-N
(µg/L)
PO4-P
(µg/L)
Na
(mg/L)
Sept. 05 26.93 8.50 8.10 2.10 0.95 22.00 0.51 394.5
Oct. 05 24.10 9.15 7.95 2.82 0.85 27.70 0.77 363.5
Nov. 05 23.66 11.25 7.83 3.86 0.51 31.75 0.85 341.9
Dec. 05 17.65 11.70 7.80 4.10 0.47 34.00 0.88 310.5
Jan. 06 16.10 12.03 7.70 4.40 0.40 29.80 0.93 280.5
Feb. 06 17.20 11.15 7.80 3.50 0.45 25.10 0.65 295.0
Mar. 06 19.65 10.15 7.80 2.70 0.58 21.58 0.46 310.0
Apr. 06 22.65 9.00 7.90 2.25 0.68 19.90 0.36 340.0
May 06 26.70 7.95 7.90 1.70 0.93 16.85 0.39 365.5
Jun. 06 28.45 6.95 8.10 1.35 2.40 23.85 0.49 382.0
Jul. 06 32.45 6.40 8.15 0.96 3.70 33.95 0.60 400.0
Objectives 15.00 5.00 6.5-9 1.00 0.016 2930 100 0.062
Bolded values do not meet the objectives

On the Current and Restoration Conditions of the Southern Iraqi Marshes: Application of
320
the CCME WQI on East Hammar Marsh
Table 3. Excursion values for the parameters applied to the restoration-based WQI for East Hammar Marsh.
Date Water Temp
(o C)
DO
(mg/L)
Salinity
(%o) pH TN (mg/L)
NH4-N
(mg/L)
NO3-N
(µg/L)
PO4-P
(µg/L)
Na
(mg/L)
Sept. 05 − − 0.205882 − 1.245989 18.0 2.85289 − 1.450311
Oct. 05 − − 0.052941 − 2.016043 16.0 3.851138 0.480 769 1.257764
Nov. 05 − − − − 3.128342 9.2 4.56042 0.634 615 1.123602
Dec. 05 −0.22144 − − − 3.385027 8.4 4.954466 0.692 308 0.928571
Jan. 06 −0.28981 − − − 3.705882 7.0 4.218914 0.788 462 0.742236
Feb. 06 −0.24129 − − − 2.743316 8.0 3.395797 0.25 0.832298
Mar. 06 −0.13322 − − − 1.887701 10.6 2.779335 − 0.925466
Apr. 06 −0.00088 − 0.088235 − 1.406417 12.6 2.485114 − 1.111801
May 06 − − 0.294118 − 0.818182 17.6 1.950963 − 1.270186
Jun. 06 − − 0.5 − 0.44385 47.0 3.176883 − 1.372671
Jul. 06 − 0.078125 0.705882 − 0.026738 73.0 4.945709 0.153 846 1.484472
Table 4. Excursion values for the parameters applied to the guidelines-based WQI for East Hammar Marsh.
Date Water Temp
(o C)
DO
(mg/L) pH TN (mg/L)
NH4-N
(mg/L)
NO3-N
(µg/L)
PO4-P
(µg/L)
Na
(mg/L)
Sept. 05 − − − − 58.375 −0.99249 − 6361.903
Oct. 05 − − − − 52.125 −0.99055 − 5861.903
Nov. 05 − − − − 30.875 −0.98916 − 5513.516
Dec. 05 − − − − 28.375 −0.98840 − 5007.065
Jan. 06 − − − − 24.000 −0.98983 − 4523.194
Feb. 06 − − − − 27.125 −0.99143 − 4757.065
Mar. 06 − − − − 35.250 −0.99263 − 4999
Apr. 06 − − − − 41.500 −0.99321 − 5482.871
May 06 − − − − 57.125 −0.99425 − 5894.161
Jun. 06 − − − − 149.000 −0.99186 − 6160.29
Jul. 06 − − − −0.04 230.25 −0.98841 − 6450.613
4. Discussion
Although our results showed that the Guidelines-Based
CCME WQI value was almost double of that for the
Restoration-Based CCME WQI, the conditions of the
marsh were still often departing from natural or desirable
levels; it simply has not recovered yet and remained in
poor condition in respect to the parameters under con-
sideration in this paper.
The outcome of this investigation shows that the pa-
rameters of concern to the restoration-based WQI (Table
1) are TN, NH4-N and Na+ ions concentrations that con-
sistently exceeded the objectives, whereas PO4, salinity
and water temperature occasionally exceeded the objec-
tives. However, DO concentration was out of the objec-
tive in one occasion only, during July 2006. In contrast,
Table 2 in which the objective depends on the CCME
guidelines shows that NH4-N, NO3-N and Na consis-
tently exceeded the objective, whereas TN was the only
parameter that occasionally exceeded the objective.

On the Current and Restoration Conditions of the Southern Iraqi Marshes: Application of 321
the CCME WQI on East Hammar Marsh
Overall, the conditions of the marsh in respect to sup-
porting current life (fauna and flora) are better when
compared with those conditions related to meeting the
restoration targets. However, more efforts are needed to
recover the area, particularly with regard to Na and TN
as well as salinity levels.
It is evident from the results that water properties in
the marshlands have passed through a great degradation
process throughout the deliberately drying process which
took more than a decade. This phenomenon clearly re-
flects its effects on the aquatic life in the area, physical,
chemical and biological-wise. However, the composition
and balance of the elements in the water has strongly
altered, chemical characters known previously in the
marshes [15,16,21,22] is not evident any more. Nitrogen
compounds vigorously increased, phosphate levels
clearly decreased, salinity strongly increased, sodium
became the dominant cation in parallel with calcium and
magnesium, and conductivity doubled as indicated by
Fitzpatrick [23].
Furthermore, many areas of the marshes were severely
burned after drainage. The intensity of the burns in some
areas, with high surface organic matter covering sulfidic
pyrite soils beneath, resulted in soils being greatly altered
chemically [23]. Richardson et al. [24] noted that water
chemistry values of Hammar marsh, when compared
with historical surveys completed before drainage
[22,25], revealed high increases in the concentrations of
several ions including Na which was raised by (170%) in
the Suq Al-Shuyukh region during the past 20 years.
Richardson & Hussain [4] stated that the reflooded East
Al-Hammar had highest total phosphates and nitrogen
compared with other marshes, which may be related to
sampling at several sites where human and animal waste
was released directly into the water column without
treatment. Also, this is probably relates to a rise in salin-
ity in the Euphrates and to increased flux into the water
column of ions concentrated in the soil after 10 years of
drainage and evaporation.
The outcomes of application of the CCME WQI in the
present study came in accordance with the above men-
tioned results, using both the two approaches. Therefore,
one will not hesitate to state the urgent need to restore
the area; plantation, increasing water flow, sustainable
management, strong and firm policy are among the most
needed measures to recover the marshes.
These results can be of a great value for water users
and planners to depend upon for restoration of the
marshes that undoubtedly need more effort and time as
well as wise judgment.
5. Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Nature Iraq and Twin River Institute,
American University of Iraq-Sulaimani, without their
financial support the work would have not been done.
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