"كتيّب بلاد الرافدين. المجلد II. ١٩١٧" [‎٤‎٤‎٩] (٥٤٢/٤٦٠)

CONTEOL OF TIGEIS WATER
449
of the Tigris, the distances between them varying here from 4
to 8 m.
The r. bank of the Tigris below the Nahr Tarmlyeh is fairly well
provided with bunds, and there are a number of embankments pro
tecting Baghdad West (i.e. the part on the r. bank of the Tigris) on
its landward side. If the Tigris bu and the dams or regulators on
the heads of the Euphrates canals are kept intact the country round
Baghdad is dry: if the bunds, &c., break, the country will be flooded
to an extent varying with the size and position of the breaches.
Under normal conditions the country between Baghdad West and
Lake 'Aqarquf may be flooded in spring, when access by land to
Baghdad may be possible only along embankments. (On one of
these embankments runs the Baghdad—Samarra railway.) To north
ward this inundation may stretch many miles, southwards it usually
does not go much beyond the iron bridge over the Kharr Canal. It
is fed by overflows from the r. bank of the Tigris and occasionally
from the Saqlawiyeh Canal from the Euphrates (see Appendix C).
South of the Kharr bridge, along the Baghdad—Museyib road, there
is a belt of country which is usually dry in flood-time. South of
this again, at about 10 m. from Baghdad, Eoute Eeports of 1903 and
1905 mention a swampy area, under water in spring and extending
for some 5 m., after which higher and drier ground is again reached.
This area is marked as liable to flood on Indian Degree Map, sheet 2 C:
but later information makes it doubtful whether it has ever been
flooded since 1910. It must be remembered, however, that so far as
the neighbourhood of Baghdad West and that quarter of the city
itself have been free from flood this has been due to the maintenance
of the bunds, &c., by the authorities. In an abnormal flood, or if
proper precautions have not been taken, the whole country and most
of Baghdad West itself may be flooded (as in November-December,
1914).
It follows from what has been said above that by breaching the
Tigris banks and 'bunds, and also by diverting water from the
Euphrates, the whole of this country lying S. of Beled between
the Tigris and the desert plateau, and farther S. again between the
Tigris and the Euphrates, could be so inundated in flood-time as to
leave only scattered islands of dry ground. A dam or dams in this part
of the Tigris might cause an inundation stretching down to the Hai.
The Country on the Left [East) B —From Samarra to Sindiyeh
the country on the 1. bank is on the whole beyond the reach of the
Tigris floods. The swamp behind the old Qaim Canal seems to be
fed by water from the hills. Between Sa'diyeh (4 m. below Sindiyeh)
and Mansuriyeh the land near the Tigris sinks to below the flood
mes. ii „ f