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Topographic and watershed analysis

agriculture, industry, and sustaining ecosystems and lost water to Lake Haditha to improve water availability.
is vital for life. However, <1% of the world’s water in Several recent studies have confirmed that GIS and
rivers, lakes, wetlands, and aquifers is accessible and is remote sensing (RS) can significantly improve water
under threat. 2-4 resources management in arid regions in addition to
Iraq and other countries rely heavily on their water other techniques, such as land use land cover (LULC)
bodies for their economy and human life. It is essential classification. According to the LULC classification,
to develop strategic plans for water management to vegetated regions help retain groundwater, whereas
meet future requirements due to the decrease in the urban growth and impermeable surfaces worsen surface
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quantities and degradation in the quality of the water runoff. The report points out that 1.2 billion cubic
reaching Iraq’s borders with the Euphrates and Tigris meters of water are lost yearly due to evaporation and
rivers. The Euphrates and Tigris Rivers are Iraq’s two recommends specific management techniques, such as
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primary surface water sources, and future predictions better flood mitigation planning, erosion control, and
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suggest that they will become scorched by 2040. To reservoir optimization. 14
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overcome this problem, a prudent water management Wise management of water resources also requires
plan is to be adopted, and dams are to be constructed to adopting modern technologies such as hydrological
form reservoirs. The Haditha Dam reservoir in Anbar modeling to address water challenges 15,16 and
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state, western Iraq, is a significant source of drinking Mcdonnell 17 confirmed that ArcGIS Pro provides
water, irrigation, flood control, and hydropower advanced capabilities for cartographic modeling
generation. Operations such as evaporation and and spatial analysis, making it an essential tool in
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leakage have resulted in the loss of a significant amount environmental and hydrological studies. DeMers
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of surface water. also indicated that ArcGIS Pro features a modern user
A reduction in the amount of water in both lakes is interface and advanced analytical capabilities, making
caused by several factors, including those related to it the first choice for GIS researchers. It features
the nature and quality of the water (water depth, water advanced analytical capabilities, such as hydrological
quality, volume, and shape of the area of surface water), as network analysis and sub-basin identification, making
well as climatic factors (relative humidity, temperature, it the ideal choice for complex studies. 19,20 Despite the
wind, and sun radiation). For this reason, finding ways progress in using RS and GIS techniques to analyze
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to retain and control the water lost is necessary. Thus, the characteristics of water basins, there is a lack of
water resource management is critical to ensuring that applied studies on water management in arid and
water is utilized efficiently and conserved while also semi-arid regions such as the Haditha Dam basin.
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increasing the amount of rainwater collected by the Previous research has focused on analyzing changes in
dam. One of the most essential methods is watershed water bodies without providing practical solutions to
management. reduce water loss. This study aims to fill this research
The dynamic practice of managing land, biota, gap through a detailed analysis of the topographic
water, and other resources in a particular area for social, and hydrological characteristics of the Haditha Dam
ecological, and economic reasons is known as watershed Basin using Sentinel-1 imagery and digital elevation
management. It requires effective collaborations models (DEM), focusing on the influence of slopes
between researchers and practitioners, interdisciplinary and watersheds on runoff and soil erosion, as well as
work, and participatory water resource management land use analysis (LULC) and assessing their impact
decision-making Water resources specialists have on groundwater storage. The study will also provide
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warned of the threats of proceeding low water levels recommendations for improving water resource
within the Euphrates River, which has essentially management, including enhancing water storage, flood
influenced the conditions of the national water stores control, and reducing water losses.
in the Anbar Governorate. Specialists uncovered
that a present-day dam lake had been decreased to an 2. Literature review and aims of the study
insignificant waterway after water flow levels dropped
to 150 m /s; in 2020, it was 1,200 m /s. For this reason, 2.1. Literature review
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it is necessary to find ways to hold and control water Hydrological modeling using RS and GIS techniques
and ensure that it is not lost and increase the amount has witnessed significant developments in analyzing
of rainwater collected by the dam by using geographic and evaluating water basins’ morphometric and
information systems (GIS) to suggest redirecting the hydrological characteristics. For example, RS and GIS

Volume 22 Issue 2 (2025) 169 doi: 10.36922/ajwep.8499