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Developing USACE method to rehabilitate Hour-al-Azim
marsh and dust management
Ramin Gorji Shani and Gholam-Abbas Barani
ABSTRACT
Hour-al-Azim marsh is one of the most significant wetlands of Mesopotamia watershed. In the past
few years, severe environmental and hydrological stresses have caused which it has lost a large part
of its area and its bed has become the largest focal point of haze in the southwestern of Iran.
Determining delineation is one of the most important and necessary measures to protect a wetland’s
ecosystem and in this study, delineation was determined using the USACE-R-G method. This method
is a combination of ecological and hydrological criteria with Remote Sensing and Geographical
Information System. The results showed that under the first scenario the marsh is about 3,279 km
2
which about 882 square kilometers constitute free-water surface and its average depth is 2.4 meters.
In the second scenario, these numbers were estimated 1,619 km
2
with an average depth of
2.7 meters. Moreover, the area of the hazes focus is about 1,659 km
2
. As well as this, under these
conditions the amount of water required to submerge it is 7.9 in the first scenario and 4.4 billion
cubic meters in the second one.
Key words |delineation, ecosystem, USACE-R-G, wetlands
HIGHLIGHTS
•The delineation of Hour-al-Azim marsh was performed based on USACE-R-G method for prior
and current conditions.
•The results confirmed that human activities related to oil harvesting has exerted severe
environmental and hydrological stresses on the marsh body.
•It was found that the marsh needs a water volume of 7.9 billion cubic meters to satisfy the
environmental conditions and the haze problem.
Ramin Gorji Shani (corresponding author)
Water and Hydraulic Structures Engineering,
Department of Civil Engineering,
Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman,
Kerman,
Iran
E-mail: raminshani1990@gmail.com
Gholam-Abbas Barani
Department of Civil Engineering,
Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman,
Kerman,
Iran
INTRODUCTION
Wetlands in different communities have different meanings
and definitions, as more than 50 different definitions have
been providing for them. Ramsar Convention, as an inter-
national body for the protection of wetlands, provides a
comprehensive and broad definition of wetlands: ‘wetlands
are areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural
or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is
static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of
marine water the depth of which at low tide does not
exceed six meters’(Conservation of Iranian Wetlands
Project et al. ). Ramsar Convention divides wetlands
into two general and partial types. In general classification,
wetlands are divided into five categories: Lacustrine,
Riverine, Palustrine, Marine and Estuarine; whereas, in par-
tial classification, this method categorizes wetlands into
three groups: Marine and coastal, Inland and Man-made
(Ramsar Convention Secretariat ). Wetlands as the
delta of rivers are one of the most valuable and sensitive
natural ecosystems in which organic food production, cul-
tural and tourism services, flood control, biodiversity
1© IWA Publishing 2021 Water Supply |in press |2021
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conservation, sediment control, mineral nitrate stabilization,
erosion control of estuaries, climate modification and green-
house gas reduction are among the most important services
(Wondie ;Wu et al. ;Asomani-Boateng ;
Debanshi & Pal ). According to (Schuyt & Brander
), the economic value of wetlands registered at
Ramsar Convention (which amounted to 12.8 million
square kilometers at the time of the calculation) is about $
70 billion a year. Today, human activities have had irrevers-
ible effects on the shape of these ecosystems while the most
important damaging factors in wetlands are wetland pol-
lution, water contamination and reduction in inflow. In
general, determining the delineation is one of the most criti-
cal issues in protecting a wetland as well as in issuing civil
and industrial permits. In other words, it shows how far
industries and buildings should be constructed from the
ponds to prevent the invasion of the ecological and legal
privacy of an ecosystem and to guarantee the conservation
of life within a wetland. Using remote sensing (RS) and Geo-
graphical information system (GIS) are one of the most
common methods of determination among researchers
(Zheng et al. ;McCarthy et al. ;Simioni et al.
). Digital elevation model (DEM) and RS have already
been employed for watershed delineation, wetland mapping
and monitoring (Chu ;Kaplan & Avdan ;Pal &
Saha ;Slagter et al. ). DEM and RS, however,
have limitations leading some researchers to have combined
the items together or have employed ones with other features.
For example, Mwita et al. ()combined multispatial resol-
ution imagery with GIS and field survey to delineate and map
small wetlands of Kenya and Tanzania. As it is obvious, each
country has its own set of rules to assess the delineation of
wetlands, but the most popular of these methods is the US
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) method; in which, hydro-
logical, ecological and geological issues of wetlands are taken
into account in identifying their bed size and limitation
(Environmental Laboratory ). The US Environmental
Protection Agency uses this method to calculate the bound-
ary of wetlands in all geographic locations of the country,
with any climate, in a way that all natural or man-made wet-
lands in the country follow this method (Schneider &
Sprecher ).
In Iran, as in other countries, there are set of rules on
how to use surface water resources, and one of these laws
is the Land and Coastal Law, which was registered in
1974. According to this law, lands that are created as a
result of sea water drop alongside any flow of seas, lakes,
islands, or even as a result of lowering and drying up of wet-
lands are part of national lands and cannot be privately
owned and occupied (Ministry of Energy et al. ;
Monem et al. ). The rest of the laws in the country
also apply only to the construction of houses or the location
of industries in rivers, lagoons, lakes and seas. Therefore,
due to the lack of a legal basis, the rights of inland wetlands
in the country, their delineation are highly ruined and vio-
lated. One of the most prominent inland wetlands in the
country, which has been subjected to severe stress due to
the lack of a well-established law is the Hour-al-Azim
marsh that has undergone massive changes over the years
due to war and oil harvesting activities; moreover, the
lack of sufficient volume of water for marsh life has made
its bed the largest focus of dust in the southwest of the
country. More than 14 earth and concrete dams have
been constructed on the Karkheh and Tigris watersheds
for different purposes of water storage, flood control and
hydropower generation, among which, the Mosul, Samarra
(Tharthar) and Karkheh are the most important dams stor-
ing about 91 billion cubic meters water (Abrishamchi et al.
;Mohammad et al. ;Abdullah et al. ). The pre-
sent study was aimed to determine the wetland delineation
in accordance with the laws governing the country to calcu-
late Dust zone area and the amount of water required to
submerge them. Therefore, the USACE method in combi-
nation with RS and GIS (USACE-R-G method) was used
to identify the boundary of Hour-al-Azim marsh as well as
to determine the dust zone area-volume. This method is
used to evaluate the legal, ecological and hydrological
border of the wetland. This study was conducted using
field observations by researchers, RS, GIS, hydrological,
ecological and geological data.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study area
Hour-al-Azim marsh, is one of the largest marshes in West
Asia, located between Iran and Iraq. The eastern part of it
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which is situated in Iran is known as Hour-al-Azim while
the western part is called Hur al-Hoveizeh, but international
assemblies refer to it as Hour-al-Azim marsh. Hour-al-Azim
marsh is bordered on the north by the Hour al-Sanaf and on
the south by the main tributary of the Tigris River and its
lowlands. This marsh extends latitude from 31500Nto
31and also longitude range from 47580Eto47
200E. The
length of the marsh from north to south is about 80 kilo-
meters and their width is 30 kilometers. Inflow to the
marsh is provided by the Karkheh and the tributaries of
the Tigris River, known as Kahla and Mashah, as shown
in Figure 1. The inflow to the marsh is also discharged
through the Swaib and the Kassara channel.
Model development
In this study, the delineation of the marsh was checked using
USACE-R-G method, in which the delineation unification is
based on three general principles of vegetation, soil texture
and wetland hydrology. In the USACE-R-G method, two rou-
tine and comprehensive (Combination) methods have been
proposed for estimating typical wetlands, and the routine
method is divided into three levels of office, onsite and
combination. In fact, the combination level is a composition
of the onsite and the office level. Atypical wetlands are the
ones that do not appear to maintain one of the three general
principles of wetland designation due to human or non-
human activities. In atypical condition, portions of the
marsh that were dried prior to legal determination are not
part of the wetland’s delineation (Figure 2).
Hydrological, ecological and geological data of the
study area are used in this study to verify the delineation
of common marsh. Therefore, two scenarios were presented
according to USACE-R-G method to assess the delineation
of bedrock marsh and its water storage capacity. These
two scenarios are as follows:
(A) Determination of delineation of the bed, under con-
ditions prior to hydrological and environmental
stresses (Typical wetland).
(B) Determination of the delineation of the bed under the
present conditions (Atypical Wetland). In the second
scenario, the wetland was considered special and was
excluded from its arid areas, with only the northern por-
tion of the Ramsar International Convention being
registered as a conventional wetland using a combi-
nation method.
Figure 1 |Hour-al-Azim marsh.
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The following steps were taken to measure the delinea-
tion of Hour-al-Azim marsh under USACE-R-G method:
I. Hydrological study of marsh
II. Field survey of marsh
III. Determination of soil texture and permeability of marsh
IV. Analysis of satellite images
V. Determination of the quantity and quality of vegetation
VI. Using 1: 25,000 maps
Also Figure 3 is the flowchart illustrating main steps in
analysis.
As the marsh has been under stress and disturbance
since 1981, hydrological data and satellite images prior to
this year were used to determine the delineation in first
and second scenario (North portion).
Hydrology of marsh
According to the USACE-R-G method, the maximum rain-
fall, runoff, and average monthly discharge of inflows to
marsh prior to hydrological stress should be evaluated to
obtain the year with the highest rainfall (wet year).
Rainfall
To determine the direct rainfall at the surface of the Hour-al-
Azim normal rainfall data from synoptic stations and its adja-
cent rain gauges were used. The data related to the Basra, Al-
Amara, Bostan, Abadan, Ahvaz, Mahshahr, Basra, Aghajari
and rain gauge stations of Hamidieh, Abdulkhan and Molas-
sani. After statistical tests, direct precipitation at the surface
of Hour-al-Azim marsh was obtained using IDW (Inverse
Distance Weighting) method. In this method, by using IDW
at the data stations, precipitation is obtained in the non-
data areas. In this case, the value and weight of the station
closest to the area is higher than the other stations.
In general, the missing precipitation calculation Px
equation using the IDW method is as follows (Ward et al. ):
Px¼PPiWi
PW(1)
where Piis the amount of precipitation at the stations studied,
Wiis the square of the distance of the stations from the points
with unknown precipitation Pxobtained from the following
equations.
W¼1
D2(2)
D2¼D2
xþD2
y(3)
Dxand Dyare distance of stations from unknown points.
Input flow to marsh
Since marsh flow is provided from Karkheh and Tigris water-
shed, it was necessary to evaluate the normal discharge of
these two rivers before environmental and hydrological stres-
ses, as well as inlet discharge after the occurrence of stresses.
Figure 2 |The flowchart of wetland determination according to USACE-R-G.
Figure 3 |Flowchart illustrating main steps in analysis.
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For this reason, the data of the Hamidiyeh hydrometric
stations and the downstream of Kut barrage were used.
Then, after performing statistical tests, and verifying the
desired data, the necessary information was obtained.
Soil texture of marsh
To measure the texture of the soil of Hour-al-Azim marsh, the
studies which were conducted by Aqrawi and Evanz (1993a,
1993b, ) were used to study the texture of soil in Mesopo-
tamian marshes. What they have searched about are related
to the soil texture of Mesopotamian marshes and the sedi-
ments in them which are the outcome of drilling performed
in the wetland bed during 1993 and 1994.
Quantitative and qualitative amount of marsh
vegetation
Satellite images from 1972 to 1980 was used to calculate the
vegetation of the wetlands and after analyzing the satellite
images (Landsat MSS) the NDVI index of the marsh was
obtained. Also, by using field observations done by research-
ers, reports of Ramsar Convention and the Iran-Iraq
Environmental Protection Organization the plant diversity
of the study area was acquired.
In general, NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation
Index) is used to determine the dispersal, vegetation area,
and free water surface area of a wetland. This index is
obtained by analyzing satellite images. The NDVI index is
obtained in terms of the two Near-infrared Bands, the Red
band of satellite images based on the following equation
(Lasaponara & Masini ).
NDVI ¼NIR RED
NIR þRED (4)
where NIR:The reflectance from the near-infrared band.
And RED:The reflectance from the red visible band. This
index has values from 1 to 1 as presented in Table 1.
After identification of vegetation area and free-water sur-
face, by using 1: 25,000 map of study area and elevation
points from marsh bed, delineation of marsh was obtained
under two scenarios.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Hydrology of marsh
Direct precipitation at the surface of wetlands
The results showed that the maximum amount of direct rain-
fall in the study area was in January which was about 42 mm
and minimum precipitation was in June to September which
was less than 0.3 mm. Total direct rainfall at wetlands is
about 204 mm/year which brings about 650 million cubic
meters of water directly into the marsh. These values are
presented monthly in Figure 4.
Surface flows
By analyzing hydrometric stations data of Hamidiyeh and
the downstream of Kut barrage, it was found that the aver-
age inflow to the wetlands from Karkheh River, before the
hydrological stresses, was about 161 m
3
/s, which is about
59 m
3
/s after hydrological stresses as shown in Figure 5.
This means that the inflow to the marsh from the Karkheh
River has been reduced to 40% of the initial flow. The
Table 1 |The NDVI classification (Yengoh et al. 2015)
Land cover types NDVI
Water, Snow, Ice 1NDVI <0
Clouds 0 NDVI <0:002
Bare Ground 0:002 NDVI <0:05
Scarce Vegetation 0:05 NDVI <0:1
Medium Vegetation 0:1NDVI <0:5
Dense Vegetation 0:5NDVI 1
Figure 4 |The monthly average rainfall at the surface of Hour-al-Marshes.
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average annual discharge in the downstream of Kut barrage
hydrometric station is 819 cubic meters per second, which
has reached 391 cubic meters in recent years. In other
words, the Tigris River has also been cut in half. These
results are illustrated in Figure 6. Also, the maximum
recorded discharge in these stations during 1970s is in
1972. It can be inferred from what is presented in Figures 7
and 8this year is the wet year of the decade.
Soil texture
Based on Aqrawi and Evanz’s (1993a, 1993b, ) studies,
it was found that the soil texture of the marsh consists of
three layers. The first layer, which is about 7 cm thick, con-
tains plant residues, and its color is black and in some places
olive-gray. The second layer is silty clay soil texture with a
thickness of about 30 cm and after this 30 cm layer, the
clay content increases sharply and the soil texture becomes
clayey silty. And because of the soil texture triangle, these
soils contain at least 40% clay, soils considered to be
impermeable so that water permeability was neglected in
the marsh.
Marsh vegetation
By analyzing Landsat satellite images between 1972 and
1980, the NDVI index of the wetlands was obtained. The
index showed that, on average, 64 percent of the marsh
area had vegetation, which decreased from north to south.
In the northern part, the highest density is present in the
marsh, and Figure 9 shows the changes in vegetation and
free water area over the years. As well as this, according to
field observations by researchers and reports from the
Ramsar Convention, and Iran-Iraq Environmental Protec-
tion Organizations, the vegetation of Hour-al-Azim marsh
is divided into three sections: Submerged, Emergent, and
floating aquatic plants in Hour. These plants included in
Table 2. The swamp reed (Common Reed) is the dominant
species in the region and accounts for 90% of the marsh
Figure 5 |The average monthly flow rate of the Karkheh River at the Hamidieh Station
before and after the construction of the Karkheh Dam.
Figure 6 |The monthly changes in the flow rate of the Tigris River at the Kut Barrage
downstream station before and after of hydrological stress.
Figure 7 |The annual average flow rate of the Karkheh River at the Hamidieh Station.
Figure 8 |The average annual flow rate of the Tigris River in the Kut Barrage downstream
station.
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vegetation alone. Field surveys have shown that not only are
they habitat for living creatures in wetlands, but are also
used as a food source for water buffalo.
Delineation of the marsh in the first scenario
After quantitative and qualitative determination of 3 main
parameters of marsh and satellite images at the scale of
1∶25,000 maps of the study area and elevation points of
the marsh, their delineation was determined. Investigation
of the hydrometric data and satellite images showed that
the maximum and minimum inflow to the marshes belonged
to the years 1972 and 1973, respectively. By investigating the
satellite images of 10 years and field observations, it was
found out that due to the presence of a high and steep
embankment around the marsh, the area of Hour-al-Azim
did not exceed a certain level; so that, in case of an increase
in the inflow, the excessive flood would be drained from
the Marsh and discharged into the Tigris River through
the Swaib and Kassare Canal. Accordingly, the area of the
Hour-al-Azim before the ecological and hydrological stres-
ses and before any changes are 3,279 square kilometers, of
which about 882 square kilometers constitute free-water sur-
face. The NDVI index included in Figure 10.
The depths of the marsh also decreases from north to
south, with different parts of the marsh having different
depths, so that about 60% of the marsh has depths of 1
to 3 meters as presented in Table 3 and Figure 11. In general,
the average depth of marsh is 2.4 m. It was also found that
the slope of the marsh in the northern part is steeper than
the southern parts; beside this, the slope is from northeast
to southwest, indicating that the inflow into the marsh,
either from Karkheh or the Kahla and Mushhash rivers,
Table 2 |Plant species of the Hour-al-Azim marsh
Species name Common name
Cyperus papyrus Umbrella Sedge
Phragmites Australis Common Reed
Typha Domengensis Reed mace
Schinoplectus Litoralis Bulrush
Salicornia Sp Glasswort
Tamarix sp Salt cedar
Arundo Donax Giant reed
Salvinia Natans Water fern
Lemna Gibba Duckweed
Nymphaea alba White water lily
Bacopa monneria Brahmin
Figure 9 |Vegetation and water level variations in Hawizeh Marshes.
Figure 10 |The NDVI index of Hour-al-Azim Marsh under the first scenario conditions.
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would initially drown the Hur al-Hoveizeh or then lead to a
massive submergence in Hour-al-Azim.
Delineation in the second scenario
In this case, marsh fall into the category of special wetlands
that, according to the UCACE method, dry areas of marsh
are not recognized as limitation. Thus, the Hour-al-Azim
area was approximately 1,619 square kilometers that
Figure 12 shows the current delineation of the wetlands.
Also, about 37% of the marsh have a maximum depth of 2
meters as presented in Table 4. In general, the average
depth of marsh is about 2.7 meters. In this case, 4.4 billion
cubic meters of water are needed to submerge the northern
part of the marsh and, given that they have dried up to 1,659
Table 3 |Classification of water depths in Hour-al-Azim marsh under the first scenario
Area from marsh Depth range
62 1–3
11 3–4
27 4–14
Figure 11 |The bathymetric map of Hour-al-Azim Marsh under the first scenario
conditions. Figure 12 |The NDVI index of Hour-al-Azim Marsh under the second scenario conditions.
Table 4 |Classification of water depths in Hour-al-Azim marsh under the first scenario
Area from marsh Depth range
37 1–2
17 2–4
17 4–6
22 6–8
78–14
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square kilometers, droughts have not been ideal in the
environment and have become the focus of the hazes.
CONCLUSION
In this research, we tried to delineate the Hour-al-Azim
marsh using USACE-R-G method as well as determinate
dust zone area. For this purpose, two scenarios were con-
sidered. The results revealed that the USACE-R-G method
is better than the other methods. It has potential benefits
for wetlands monitoring with respect to the fact that not
only it can consider RS and GIS features in studies but
also it can analyze the hydrological and ecological factors
affecting on ecosystems delineation. In addition, the results
showed dams that constructed in the Karkheh and the Tigris
watersheds have key roles in reducing input flow to the
marsh and create the largest focal point of haze in about
1,660 km
2
of the marsh.
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
All relevant data are included in the paper or its Supplemen-
tary Information.
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