Editing Tigris (section)

==Management and water quality==
[[File:Tigris 2015.jpg|thumb|right|Batman River]]

The Tigris is heavily dammed in Iraq and Turkey to provide water for irrigating the arid and semi-desert regions bordering the river valley. Damming has also been important for averting floods in Iraq, to which the Tigris has historically been notoriously prone following April melting of snow in the Turkish mountains. [[Mosul Dam]] is the largest dam in Iraq.

Recent Turkish damming of the river has been the subject of some controversy, for both its environmental effects within Turkey and its potential to reduce the flow of water downstream.

Water from both rivers is used as a means of pressure during conflicts.<ref>Vidal, John. "[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/02/water-key-conflict-iraq-syria-isis Water supply key to the outcome of conflicts in Iraq and Syria, experts warn]", ''[[The Guardian]]'', 2 July 2014. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204151802/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/02/water-key-conflict-iraq-syria-isis |date=2016-12-04 }}.</ref>

In 2014 a major breakthrough in developing consensus between multiple stakeholder representatives of Iraq and Turkey on a Plan of Action for promoting exchange and calibration of data and standards pertaining to Tigris river flows was achieved. The consensus, known as the "Geneva Consensus On Tigris River", was reached at a meeting organized in [[Geneva]] by the think tank [[Strategic Foresight Group]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/WaterResources/showAnalysisAgenda.aspx?ID=2735 |title=Analysis & Water Agenda |date= 1 December 2014  |first1=Vakur |last1=Sümer |publisher=ORSAM |access-date=2015-11-28 |archive-date=2015-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924061827/http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/WaterResources/showAnalysisAgenda.aspx?ID=2735 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In February 2016, the [[United States Embassy in Iraq]] as well as the [[Prime Minister of Iraq]] [[Haider al-Abadi]] issued warnings that [[Mosul Dam]] could collapse.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Borger|first1=Julian|title=Iraqi PM and US issue warnings over threat of Mosul dam collapse|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/29/iraq-us-issue-warnings-threat-of-mosul-dam-collapse|access-date=29 February 2016|work=[[The Guardian]] |date=29 February 2016|archive-date=29 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229213305/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/29/iraq-us-issue-warnings-threat-of-mosul-dam-collapse|url-status=live}}</ref> The United States warned people to evacuate the floodplain of the Tigris because between 500,000 and 1.5 million people were at risk of drowning due to [[flash flood]] if the dam collapses, and that the major Iraqi cities of [[Mosul]], [[Tikrit]], [[Samarra]], and [[Baghdad]] were at risk.<ref>{{cite news|title=US warns of Mosul dam collapse in northern Iraq|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35690616|access-date=29 February 2016|work=[[BBC News]] |date=29 February 2016|archive-date=29 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229211311/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35690616|url-status=live}}</ref>