Location/Country: Suleymani area, Iraq
Client: Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources
Dates: 2007 – ongoing 

The main objective of the preliminary, planning design of the Qara Ali Dam and Irrigation Project located in the Suleymani area is the storage of water from the Tanjero River in amounts satisfying the water needs and the development of the irrigation network of Shahrazoor plain.
As far as the dam part, hydrological study, reservoir sizing and operation analysis, spillway modeling study and river modeling were carried on serving the design activities. All the modeling activities necessary for the design based on a set of up to date software. The irrigation network has been studied in order to identify the most cost-effective solution, taking into account several layouts and the habits of the people living in the region. Several meetings were organized with the local department of agriculture and with the other stakeholders in Suleymani.
The feasibility of a hydropower plant installation is under investigation, in order to obtain at least part of the energy requested for the irrigation.

The Irrigation Project is planning the design of an area of 14,000 ha, out of which 5,511 are irrigated. The design has been planned with the most convenient technologies in order to: 
1) ensure efficiency of the water use
2) introduce economical and environmental sustainability
3) account for all local constraints (technological skills of farmers, land tenure, cost, etc).

The agronomic analysis covers the fields of the water resources assessment, the characterization of the agro-climatic situation of the area and the definition of the cropping system. This was also based on a participatory approach where several workshops were held together with representative farmers within the area in object. Finally two main alternatives for the distribution of the water resources from the dam to the irrigated areas were retained.

The project, located in the heart of one the most promising land in Iraq, offers a clear example of our overall approach to the agriculture’s sector in Iraq. Moreover our personnel regularly went on the field both for supervising the dam site survey and for direct interviews with the farmers and with the agricultural products merchants.

Type of services provided
• Topography analysis, Geotechnical analysis, Hydrological and Water Resources analysis, 1D – 2D numerical model Hydraulic analysis, Economical studies, Environmental Impact Assessment.
• Hydraulic infrastructures: Dam design and verification, Provisional interventions design and verification, Irrigation network design, Power plant design, Reservoir management study.
• Environmental risk: Vulnerability and Risk analysis.