Editing Euphrates (section)

=== Environmental and social effects ===
{{See also|Environmental impact of reservoirs}}
[[File:KebanDam.JPG|right|thumb|[[Keban Dam]] in [[Turkey]], the first dam on the Euphrates after it emerges from the confluence of the [[Karasu (Euphrates)|Kara Su]] and the [[Murat River|Murat Su]]|alt=A large dam with water outlets in a mountainous landscape]]
[[File:CaberKalesi.jpg|right|thumb|[[Qal'at Ja'bar]] in [[Syria]], once perched on a hilltop overlooking the Euphrates valley but now turned into an island by the flooding of [[Lake Assad]]|alt=A large ruinous castle with concentric walls and towers located on an island that is connected to the shore by a causeway]]
The construction of the dams and irrigation schemes on the Euphrates has had a significant impact on the environment and society of each riparian country. The dams constructed as part of GAP – in both the Euphrates and the Tigris basins – have affected 382 villages and almost 200,000 people have been resettled elsewhere. The largest number of people was displaced by the building of the Atatürk Dam, which alone affected 55,300 people.<ref name=casestudygap10>{{harvnb|Sahan|Zogg|Mason|Gilli|2001|p=10}}</ref> A survey among those who were displaced showed that the majority were unhappy with their new situation and that the compensation they had received was considered insufficient.<ref name=casestudygap11>{{harvnb|Sahan|Zogg|Mason|Gilli|2001|p=11}}</ref> The flooding of Lake Assad led to the forced displacement of c. 4,000 families, who were resettled in other parts of northern Syria as part of a now abandoned plan to create an "[[Kurds in Syria#Arab cordon|Arab belt]]" along the borders with Turkey and Iraq.<ref name=anonymous11>{{harvnb|Anonymous|2009|p=11}}</ref><ref name=mcdowall475>{{harvnb|McDowall|2004|p=475}}</ref><ref name=hillel107>{{harvnb|Hillel|1994|p=107}}</ref>

Apart from the changes in the discharge regime of the river, the numerous dams and irrigation projects have also had other effects on the environment. The creation of reservoirs with large surfaces in countries with high average temperatures has led to increased [[evaporation]]; thereby reducing the total amount of water that is available for human use. Annual evaporation from reservoirs has been estimated at {{convert|2|km3}} in Turkey, {{convert|1|km3}} in Syria and {{convert|5|km3}} in Iraq.<ref name=hillel103>{{harvnb|Hillel|1994|p=103}}</ref> Water quality in the Iraqi Euphrates is low because irrigation water tapped in Turkey and Syria flows back into the river, together with dissolved fertilizer chemicals used on the fields.<ref name=aquastat212>{{harvnb|Frenken|2009|p=212}}</ref> The salinity of Euphrates water in Iraq has increased as a result of upstream dam construction, leading to lower suitability as drinking water.<ref name=rahihalihan>{{harvnb|Rahi|Halihan|2009}}</ref> The many dams and irrigation schemes, and the associated large-scale water abstraction, have also had a detrimental effect on the ecologically already fragile [[Mesopotamian Marshes]] and on freshwater fish [[habitat]]s in Iraq.<ref name=jawad>{{harvnb|Jawad|2003}}</ref><ref name=muir>{{harvnb|Muir|2009}}</ref>

The inundation of large parts of the Euphrates valley, especially in Turkey and Syria, has led to the flooding of many [[archaeological site]]s and other places of cultural significance.<ref>{{harvnb|McClellan|1997}}</ref> Although concerted efforts have been made to record or save as much of the endangered [[cultural heritage]] as possible, many sites are probably lost forever. The combined GAP projects on the Turkish Euphrates have led to major international efforts to document the archaeological and cultural heritage of the endangered parts of the valley. Especially the flooding of [[Zeugma, Commagene|Zeugma]] with its unique [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[mosaic]]s by the reservoir of the [[Birecik Dam]] has generated much controversy in both the Turkish and international press.<ref name=tanaka>{{harvnb|Tanaka|2007}}</ref><ref name=steele5253>{{harvnb|Steele|2005|pp=52–53}}</ref> The construction of the Tabqa Dam in Syria led to a large international campaign coordinated by [[UNESCO]] to document the heritage that would disappear under the waters of Lake Assad. Archaeologists from numerous countries excavated sites ranging in date from the [[Natufian culture|Natufian]] to the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] period, and two minarets were dismantled and rebuilt outside the flood zone. Important sites that have been flooded or affected by the rising waters of Lake Assad include [[Mureybet]], [[Emar]] and Abu Hureyra.<ref name=bounni>{{harvnb|Bounni|1979}}</ref> A similar international effort was made when the Tishrin Dam was constructed, which led, among others, to the flooding of the important [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic B]] site of [[Jerf el Ahmar]].<ref>{{harvnb|del Olmo Lete|Montero Fenollós|1999}}</ref> An [[Archaeological field survey|archaeological survey]] and [[Rescue archaeology|rescue excavations]] were also carried out in the area flooded by Lake Qadisiya in Iraq.<ref name=abdulamir>{{harvnb|Abdul-Amir|1988}}</ref> Parts of the flooded area have recently become accessible again due to the drying up of the lake, resulting not only in new possibilities for archaeologists to do more research, but also providing opportunities for [[Archaeological looting in Iraq|looting]], which has been rampant elsewhere in Iraq in the wake of the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|2003 invasion]].<ref name=garcianavarro>{{harvnb|Garcia-Navarro|2009}}</ref>