'Report on the Development of Mesopotamia with Special Reference to the Regeneration of the River Systems' [‎1] (7/50)

C0NF5DENTIAL.
Report on the Development of Mesopotamia, with special
reference to the Regeneration of the River Systems.
PRELIMINARY.
Necessity for Caution.
(1) In writing tliis report I desire to emphasize the necessity for looking at
the subject from all points of view, and to impress the need for the recogni
tion of the fact that neither the improvement of the rivers for navigation,
nor the utilization of their waters for irrigation, is possible until a very great deal
more detailed information has been carefully collected and studied than is at
present available. It cannot, indeed, be too deeply impressed upon those in authority
that amongst the many matters which engage the attention of engineers, there are
none more difficult than those which relate to the subject of rivers and stream
control—involving, as they do, problems which embrace the sciences of Geology,
Physiography, Hydraulics, Agriculture, Forestry, and Engineering. There is very
great liability to error, through failure to take all the material points into
consideration.
(2) Before works of any importance can be carried out the rivers must be studied
exhaustively throughout their lengths, each being treated as one comprehensive
whole : this is particularly necessary in the case of rivers in such a condition of
highly unstable equilibrium as the Tigris and Euphrates, which have already,
through human abuse, fallen into a condition nearly approaching disintegration.
From my personal experience, I doubt the practicability of carrying out
extensive surveys and studies, or the expediency of attempting to develop the
country economically by means of irrigation works or river improvements during
the execution of military operations, but if it is thought that no time should be lost
in forming ideas on the subjects of river improvement, irrigation, and agriculture—
much on the line of the reports I have prepared on the development of Basra and
the conservancy of the Shatt-el-Arab river—I can see no harm in a preliminary
investigation by a committee, of experts.
(3) As an illustration of the difficulty of developing the country during mili
tary operations, I may point out that the General Officer Commanding, the Indian
Expeditionary Force " D," submitted, in September 1915 for the information and
consideration of the Government of India, an irrigation project prepared by one of
his officers involving an expenditure of 54 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees of rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. or £360,000, and in
doing so remarked that: " The undertaking of a large irrigation scheme for the
benefit of the country would have the best possible effect in establishing a sense
of peace and security, and would afford an earnest of our intention to promote
the welfare of the people."
The scheme proposed included the reclamation of 100,000 acres of land in the
vicinity of Basra, and a return of 11 per cent, on the capital outlay was anticipated.
It was a local project designed without reference to the country as a whole, and
I submit it is a matter for congratulation that the Government of India took no
Cl0i(w)AD