Water Resources Management and Modeling in Iraq, the Middle East, and the Nile Basin: Towards Knowledge Transfer and Capacity Building

Mathematical modeling has been assisting water resources engineers for many years. Throughout the last few decades, it has proven to be an indispensable tool to manage water resources in a sustainable context. The objective of this paper is to review some recent modeling and research efforts as knowledge transfer and capacity building in Iraq, Nile Basin countries and the Middle East. The United Nations Education, Science, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in collaboration with the Environmental Modeling Research Laboratory (EMRL) of Brigham Young University (BYU) is conducting a knowledge transfer and capacity building for water resources engineers in the Middle East, Iraq and the Nile basin countries. These efforts include training on integrated water resources management and the use of Watershed Modeling System (WMS), developed at EMRL. Ongoing research collaborations include providing scientific and technical guidance to water resources professionals in the aforementioned countries/regions through training workshops, joint research papers and software technical assistance.