Journal of Water Resources and Geosciences

Flood perception and risk communication: understanding the impact of poverty on Vulnerability- A case study from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Wilayat Shah, Junfei Chen, Sohail Khan — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study investigates the perception of flood risks and the effectiveness of risk communication among residents living near the River Kabul and River Swat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan, particularly in the flood-prone districts of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Nowshera. Utilizing a quantitative research design, data were collected through structured questionnaires from a randomly selected sample of individuals residing in these regions. Key variables included flood perception (independent) and risk communication (dependent), while the economic consequences of floods were explored through cross-tabulation and chi-square analysis. The results revealed a significant positive correlation between flood experience, awareness, and trust with effective risk communication, while fear did not significantly influence communication levels. Further analysis indicated a strong statistical association between flood exposure and individual economic losses, including savings, earnings, and rising poverty levels. The findings underscore the crucial role of localized risk perception in enhancing communication strategies and mitigating flood-related vulnerabilities. The study highlights the need for targeted interventions focusing on community awareness, preparedness, and poverty alleviation to strengthen flood resilience in the region.

The Impact of Modern Irrigation Techniques on Enhancing Food Security and Financial Investment" Wheat Crop as a Case Study

Ali Terkey Mssirhad Al Shammari — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Food is a fundamental human need that cannot be done without for more than three days. Humans require a complete and healthy diet, with a caloric intake of no less than 2,500 calories per day to perform their physical and mental duties. Iraq heavily relies on the oil sector despite the fertility of its land, while many Arab countries depend on agriculture to provide food, create job opportunities, and supply hard currency to fund development programs. The weakness of the agricultural sector in Iraq hampers development in other sectors. This study focused on the impact of modern irrigation technologies on wheat productivity in Iraq by analyzing the relationship between investment in these technologies, water use efficiency, and economic returns. The study relied on field data and statistical analysis tools to evaluate the differences between traditional and modern irrigation methods and concluded with results that support the viability of these technologies in enhancing food security and improving agricultural production. The study's problem lies in the misuse of water allocation and reliance on various traditional irrigation methods, leading to significant water losses, reduced agricultural productivity, deterioration of soil fertility, and desertion of many agricultural lands from production in Iraq. Thus, the research posits that the application of modern irrigation technologies will increase crop productivity and contribute to the development.

Temporal Analysis of Remote Sensing Indices with MATLAB: Comparative Study of 2016 vs. 2019 Vegetation Cover Index in Abu Ghraib's Irrigation Projects

Mustafa Ismael Abdulkadhim, Reem Adil Qader, Saja Ibrahim Hani Ismael — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study employs remote sensing techniques supported by MATLAB-based analysis to conduct a temporal comparison of key vegetation indices—including the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), Green Chlorophyll Index (GCI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI)—for the years 2016 and 2019. Landsat 8 satellite imagery, obtained from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), was analyzed to detect spatial and seasonal changes in vegetation cover across irrigation zones in the Abu Ghraib district. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation), Pearson correlation coefficients, and NDVI overlap computations were used to assess the distribution of vegetation indices and detect temporal variations in vegetation health. The findings indicate significant vegetation index change in 2019 over 2016 with significant vegetation index recovery in dry times indicating the success of the irrigation project in increasing the vegetation resilience. This research answers and presented quantitative information about vegetation patterns and can justify data-based agricultural surveillance and sustainable resource control management in semi-arid landscapes.

The composition of the small fish assemblage in Al-Hawizeh marsh, Southern Iraq, after inscription on the World Heritage List

Basim M. Hubain Al-Thahaibawi, Kadhim H. Younis, Ithar K.A. Al-Mayaly — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A total of 6666 individuals of small fish species were captured from four studied stations w ithin Al-Hawizeh Marsh southern of Iraq from December 2017 to November 2018 to evaluate the fish assemblage in the Al-Hawizeh Marsh environment and identify the most important species suitable for living in the marsh environment. The captured fish were belonged to 13 species; three species achieved 85% of the small fish community in Al-Hawizeh marsh, which follows: Planiliza abu occupied the first rank of 3208 individuals recorded with 48.12%, Coptodon zilli occupied the second rank of 1929 individuals, giving a percentage of 28.94%, whereas Carassius auratus came in the third rank, where achieved 7.93% of the total number of small fish captured in the study area. Nine fish species appeared in (9-12) months (common species), including Alburnus mossulensis, C.auratus , C. zillii , Hemiculter leucisculus, P. abu, Acanthobrama marmid, Carasobarbus luteus Carasobarbus sublimus, and Leuciscus vorax and only one species, Oreochromis aureus recorded in 8 months (seasonal species). Three fish caught showed in only one month (Occasional species) including Mastacembelus mastacembelus, Heteropneustes fossilis, and Silurus triostegus. The ecological indices were used in this study, where diversity index (H) varied from (1.15 - 1.65) with an overall value of 1.46, as well as, the richness index (D) changed from (1.04 -1.77) with an overall value of 1.36. Moreover, the evenness index (J) ranged from 0.57 to 0.67, with an overall value of 0.57.

Impact of Climate Changes on Groundwater Quality in Al-Zubair District

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The aim of this study is to evaluate the quality of groundwater in Al-Zuber district (Basra Governorate). Analysis of the physical and chemical properties of samples taken from seven wells distributed across the study area was conducted for the study year (2019). The results of the analysis were compared with data collected for samples taken from the same seven wells for three years prior to the year in which the study was conducted (2019), these years are (2014, 2017 and 2018) during the 3 previous years of the study. The results of hydrochemical analysis of the four years compared with the Iraqi Standards (IQS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to determine their suitability for drinking and irrigation uses. The results of comparison showed that the values of pH (7.3-8.4), electrical conductivity (EC)(4140-7000 μs/cm), total dissolved solids (TDS) (2799-544ppm), free chlorine(CL) (220-380 mg/L), sulfate (SO4) (2637-3000 mg/L), and magnesium (Mg) (100-500 mg/L) are not suitable for drinking as they exceeded the limits of the standards. However for irrigation purposes, groundwater can be used after treatment.

A Comprehensive and Extensive Review of the Process of Water Infiltration in Soil

Saraa Zaher Moyaser Al-layla, Ahmed Ali Mohammed Al-Ogaidi — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Infiltration is the downward movement of water in the soil due to rain, surface runoff, and irrigation. It is a fundamental component of the water cycle as it has a direct influence on water use efficiencies and loss estimation. The current paper aims to investigate the process of infiltration and the forces behind the process, the mathematical and numerical models that were implemented by scientists to consequently estimate the infiltration rate and the amount of infiltration. Furthermore, the most common artificial intelligence methods used to model the process will also be explored. The findings from this review have established that the soil physical properties play a crucial role in soil infiltration behavior, as an increase in sand content and porosity is directly related to the high infiltration level while an increase in clay content, bulk density or initial water content is associated with the decrease in the infiltration rates. It was also reported that the Kostiakov model of all its forms and Philip and Horton’s were the most common and other commonly used models in the description of the infiltration process. The Hydrus-1D computational model was identified with high accuracy in regards to the modelling of the water flow, as the values of the soil parameters are to be determined with high accuracy. On the other hand, using the data produced by the researches, machine learning methods such as ANN, GEP, M5P, RF, and PINN could have the potential to provide a higher degree of accuracy in modelling the infiltration process in comparison to the classical models in terms of their predictive ability, due to their ability to fit nonlinear data and the nonlinearity of the inherent soil. Such methods can be implemented to solve the above-mentioned challenges of field measurements and the problem of the physical parameters estimation, especially in precision farming and water resource management.

Impacts of Climate Change and Dam Construction on Tigris River Stream flow: A Case Study at Baghdad Sarai Station

Qais AL-Shahrabale, Suha Q. AL-Shahrabalee — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Baghdad Sarai gauging station is a hydrological gaging station started from 1906 to record surface water level for Tigris River at Baghdad capital, after this date, discharge measurements and other information recorded from automatic level recorder, sediment samplers, and meteorological equipment. This station recorded the highest discharge 7100m³/s from the flood of 1954 at water level 36m A.S.L, but the cross section of Tigris River at Baghdad Sarai was deterioration due to sedimentation and other causes. The recorded maximum flood discharge for 1988 was 3050m³/s at level 35m A.S.L., the expected capability of river cross section for year 2022 will not exceed 3000m³/sec for the same level. This study deals with the historical information of Baghdad Sarai station, analysis of discharge formulas, and analysis of water flows for the period 1930-2022. Impact of climatic changes on river flows for the period 1999-2022, impact of dams’ construction on Tigris River tributaries for the period 1954-2000 and the expected Tigris River drought flows in the future.