From river health to sustainable irrigation water resources: a five-year integrated ecological assessment for climate-resilient food systems in semi-arid Iraq
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Freshwater degradation in semi-arid regions can simultaneously affect river ecological condition and the reliability of water resources for irrigated food production. This study integrated ecological, irrigation-water, hydroclimatic, and crop-specific assessments across the Euphrates, Shatt Al-Hillah, and Al-Diwaniyah river systems in central Iraq over 5 years (2020–2024). Fifteen stations were monitored seasonally, generating 300 station-season observations. Physicochemical variables, major ions, nutrients, irrigation-water indicators, benthic diatoms, macroinvertebrates, habitat condition, hydroclimatic variables, and crop-specific irrigation constraints were evaluated within a common analytical framework. A persistent spatial gradient was observed across the three river systems. Mean electrical conductivity increased from 855.4 ± 226.3 μS cm −1 in the Euphrates to 1295.5 ± 247.1 μS cm −1 in Shatt Al-Hillah and 1791.9 ± 375.4 μS cm −1 in Al-Diwaniyah, accompanied by increasing Na + , Cl − , nutrients, and irrigation-water restrictions. Overall, 90.3% of observations exhibited slight-to-moderate salinity restriction, whereas severe salinity occurred only in Al-Diwaniyah. Hydroclimatic variability was associated with temporal salinity risk, with the strongest EC anomalies occurring during the summers of 2022 and 2024 and significant negative associations between EC and both SPEI-3 and SPEI-6. Biological condition declined along the same gradient: diatom and macroinvertebrate diversity, EPT representation, habitat condition, and dissolved oxygen were highest in the Euphrates and lowest in Al-Diwaniyah. Principal component analysis explained 89.67% of total variance on the first two axes and clearly contrasted biological condition with salinity, ionic enrichment, and nutrient concentrations. Crop-specific assessment further showed increasing agricultural constraints, with maize being the most sensitive crop and constrained in 100% of observations at all Al-Diwaniyah stations. These findings demonstrate that river ecological condition, irrigation-water reliability, hydroclimatic variability, and crop-specific suitability are closely interconnected. Integrating these dimensions can support more adaptive water allocation and climate-resilient irrigation management in semi-arid food-production systems.
Institution: University of Babylon
Language: English
Subfield: Water Science and Technology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,353
OpenAlex ID: W7214391385