Abstract: The estuarine environment areas where the fresh river water meets the salty sea water resulting in particular features of the environment. It includes the estuarine environment in Iraq, all from the mouth of Shatt al-Arab in the Arabian Gulf and Khor Al-Zubair and the mouth of Shatt al-Basra and Khor Abdullah and even some southern marshes that high tide and low tide arrive. The problem for research that changed the hydrological characteristics of the Shatt al-Arab has exacerbated the problem of tidal salt to the upper river in the province of Basra and increasing concentrations of total salts TDS. Thus, the study aims to determine the factors affecting the change amounting to water discharge levels and the impact of water on increasing concentrations of salt in the watershed. The research results show that the extent of the salt tongue in the Shatt al-Arab was due to natural factors, including climate change, drought and lack of human water drainage and other related to water resources management and policy aquatic neighboring countries. The salt water advance has an adverse impact on other vital agricultural, environmental, and economic activities in the province of Basra.
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