"كتيّب بلاد الرافدين. المجلد II. ١٩١٧" [‎٤‎٥‎٩] (٥٤٢/٤٧٠)

APPENDIX C
THE CONTROL OF THE EUPHRATES WATER
I ntroductory
The main causes of the present condition of the lower Euphrates
are, on the whole, similar to those which determine the condition of
the lower Tigris (see p. 445). They may be summarized as follows
(i) Insufficiency of the main bed (or beds) to hold the flood season
discharge.
(ii) Heavy floods, including sudden and violent rises m March,
April, and May. (The river begins to rise in November, and con
tinues to increase gradually up to February or March. Local rainfall
has little effect on the Euphrates.)
(iii) The presence of a great quantity of sediment in the stream,
especially in flood-time.
(iv) The nature of the soil of the delta : a soft alluvium.
(v) The long neglect of adequate measures for irrigation and con
servancy displayed by the Turkish Government in the past, and the
primitive and ill-ordered methods of local irrigation practised by the
Arabs.
The following points may be noticed :—
(a) The Euphrates floods are generally about a week later than
those on the Tigris.
(b) The flood discharge of the Euphrates is less than that of the
Tigris. At Baghdad the Tigris at its highest may discharge for short
periods 7,000 cubic metres per second. The highest discharge of the
Euphrates at Hit is apparently about 4,500 cubic metres per second
(or 4,000 cubic metres at Hindiyeh).
The low supply of the Euphrates is greater than that of the Tigris.
In the months of low water the discharge of the Tigris at Baghdad
may amount to about three-quarters of the discharge of the Euphrates
at Hit.
(c) As a waterway the Euphrates is decidedly inferior to the Tigris.
In the low season, under the best conditions at present possible, there
can be no through steamer-traffic between the Hindiyeh Barrage and
the Shatt el-Arab, nor even navigation by native craft of the larger
kinds, unless they are very lightly loaded, and are ported in places.