Author(s)

Nahlah Abbasa¹, Saleh A. Wasimia¹, Nadhir Al-Ansari²

¹School of Engineering & Technology, Central Queensland University, Melbourne, Australia.
²Geotechnical Engineering, Lulea University of Technology, Lulea, Sweden.

Kurdistan in northern Iraq, a semi-arid region, predominantly a pastureland, is nourished by Lesser Zab, which is the second major tributary of Tigris River. The discharge in the tributary, in recent times, has been experiencing increasing variability contributing to more severe droughts and floods supposedly due to climate change. For a proper appreciation, SWAT model has been used to assess the impact of climate change on its hydrological components for a half-centennial lead time to 2046-2064 and a centennial lead time to 2080-2100. The suitability of the model was first evaluated, and then, outputs from six GCMs were incorporated to evaluate the impacts of climate change on water resources under three emission scenarios: A1B, A2 and B1. The results showed worsening water resources regime.

Climate Change, Water Resources, Lesser Zab, SWAT Model

Abbasa, N. , Wasimia, S. and Al-Ansari, N. (2016) Assessment of Climate Change Impact on Water Resources of Lesser Zab, Kurdistan, Iraq Using SWAT Model. Engineering, 8, 697-715. doi: 10.4236/eng.2016.810064.