"كتيّب بلاد الرافدين. المجلد II. ١٩١٧" [‎٤‎٦‎٥] (٥٤٢/٤٧٦)

CONTROL OF EUPHRATES WATER 465
on the other hand, the Hilla Branch could not take off any ap
preciable quantity of the Euphrates discharge.
The results for navigation are:—
(i) On the Hindiyeh Branch.
The Hindiyeh Barrage being open, the Hindiyeh Branch would be
practicable during most of the high -w season for craft drawing
3-34 ft., but there is a short period after the flood begins to go down
when navigation is stopped owing to the silt in the channels of the
Bahr -i-Shinafiyeh, which two or three weeks later are scoured out
again. In low water the Bahr-i-Shinafiyeh would be impracticable
for any vessels of greater draught than small or large
hellams laden to one-third of their capacity. The closing of the
Hilla Regulator in low water would improve navigation on the
Hindiyeh: in the flood season the closing of the regulator would
make no appreciable difference to the Hindiyeh.
By the closing of the Hindiyeh Barrage the
Hindiyeh Branch can be deprived of water to a sufficient degree to
prevent navigation on certain stretches. This could be done by
closing the barrage to its safe limit (i. e. so as not to endanger the
country up-stream) and opening the Hilla Regulator to its full capacity.
In the flood season the Hindiyeh Barrage could not be closed so as to
stop navigation without causing a disastrous flood.
(ii) On the Hilla Branch.
The Hilla Branch can be deprived of water, and all navigation on
it can be stopped, by the closing of the Hilla Regulator, both in
flood-time and in low water.
When in the low-water season the Hilla Regulator is fully open
and the Hindiyeh Barrage is closed to its safe limit, navigation on
the Hilla Branch would be possible from its head to Samaweh. Any
steamers that could pass through the lock of the Hilla Regulator
could get from there to Biwaniyeh: whether they could navigate
below Diwaniyeh is not known. If the Hilla Regulator were fully
open in the flood season, the Hilla Branch would be navigable, but
if there was an exceptional rise, the country fed by the Hilla Branch
would probably be flooded.
The Hindiyeh Branch as far as Kifl is about 200 yds. broad.
It bifurcates below Kifl into the Kufeh and Shamiyeh channels,
which both discharge into the Bahr-i-Shinafiyeh. ^ The Shamiyeh
Channel (to east) is the better for navigation. It is about 150 yds.
wide except where islands reduce its breadth to 50 yds. ^ Navigation
is hampered here and there by native dams. The Bahr-i-Shinafiyeh
is a great reedy lake, which has for years been steadily silting up,
and takes a large part of the Euphrates sediment. In the low season
MES. II G g