Effect of Drought on Groundwater Properties and Agricultural Use Suitability in Areas Adjacent to Haditha District within Iraqi Western Desert

Abstract The study area is located west of Haditha District in Anbar Governorate, Iraq, with area of 169.6 km 2 drought situation since 2010 has led to increased pressure on groundwater resources due to decrease in reservoir water recharge and increase in salt concentrations, The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of the dry climate and low rainfall on the increase in salt content in the region’s well water, This study relied on field work, modeling of water samples and their laboratory analysis to measure the concentration of cation and anion, which are included in the evaluation process. The region has soil with acceptable properties for agricultural operations, ranges of total dissolved salts (TDS) were between (3008-3712 mg.l −1 ), electrical conductivity (EC) (4.7 - 5.8 dSm −1 ), sodium and chlorine (20.1 - 130.5 meql −1 ), (20.2 - 30.5 meql −1 ) On the sequentially, while the exchangeable sodium ratio (SAR) was in the range (5.5-8.9), Different international standards were used to classify and evaluate well water for use in irrigation operations, results found that all irrigation water samples did not conform to values of international irrigation standards for all the wells studied, the water of the studied area was classified as highly saline water of the type (C4 S1) and is not suitable for irrigation operations.