TITLE:
Evaluating Water Scarcity Indices for Cultivation Region in Sadat Al-Hindya, Babylon, Iraq: A Case Study
AUTHORS:
Ali Hassan Hommadi, Nadhir Abbas Al-Ansari, Ahmed Al Obaidy, Wissam K. Obied, Rafat N. Abdul-Ghni, Sawan Ali Abed
KEYWORDS:
Drought Indices, Evapotranspiration, Precipitation, Climate Change
JOURNAL NAME:
Engineering,
Vol.15 No.10,
October
31,
2023
ABSTRACT: The study evaluated the Water Scarcity Indices for
Cultivation Region in Sadat Al-Hindya, Babylon, Iraq. It calculated the
reference evapotranspiration, actual evapotranspiration, and amount of
precipitation with effective rainfall to estimate the droughts indicators which
are the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI), the Standard Precipitation and Evaporation
Rain Index (SPEI) and Reconnaissance Drought
Index RDI. The study indicated that the greatest decrease in river flow
occurred from 2019-2021 to 2020-2021 due to increasing temperature in summer and
decreasing precipitation in winter. This research evaluated a wet and drought indicating
for planning and management of water resources to face changes in climate of future. The research showed
the last years were years of drought according to the three indicators. SPI
ranged from 0.5 to 1.5 in the rainy years, but it was -0.5 to -1 as moderately dry
because in the middle of Iraq while in the south of Iraq was severely dry or extremely dry. SPEI of the study area ranged
from -1.5 to -2.5 which means
severely dry. The SPEI measures are negative values meaning the months
and years were drier. RDi ranged from 0 to -1 was dry and moderately dry while
some months and years are positive and will be wet through rainfall for ten
years (2014-2023). From indices showed that the region was a drying study area due to the
impact of climate change because of the reduction of precipitation and increase
in temperature which caused a rise of evapotranspiration during the last few years.