Iraq has faced escalating water scarcity over the past two decades, driven by climate change, upstream water withdrawals, and prolonged economic instability. These factors have caused deterioration in irrigation systems, inefficient water distribution, and growing social unrest. As per capita water availability falls below critical levels, Iraq is entering a period of acute water stress. This escalating water scarcity directly impacts water and food security, public health, and economic stability. This study aims to develop a general framework combining decision support systems (DSSs) with Integrated Comprehensive Water Management Strategies (ICWMSs) to support water planning, allocation, and response to ongoing water scarcity and reductions in Iraq. Implementing such a system is essential for Iraq to alleviate its continuing severe situation and adequately tackle its worsening water scarcity that has intensified over the years. This integrated approach is fundamental for enhancing planning efficiency, improving operational performance and monitoring, optimizing water allocation, and guiding informed policy decisions under scarcity and uncertainty. The current study highlights various international case studies that show that DSSs integrate real-time data, artificial intelligence, and advanced modeling to provide actionable policies for water management. Implementing such a framework is crucial for Iraq to mitigate this critical situation and effectively address the escalating water scarcity. Furthermore, Iraq’s water management system requires modifications considering present and expected future challenges. This study analyzes the inflows of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers from 1933 to 2022, revealing significant reductions in water flow: a 31% decrease in the Tigris and a 49.5% decline in the Euphrates by 2021. This study highlights the future 7–20% water deficit between 2020 and 2035. Furthermore, this study introduces a flexible, tool-based framework supported by a DSS with the DPSIR model (Driving Forces, Pressures, State, Impacts, and Responses) designed to address and reduce the gap between water availability and increasing demand. This approach proposes a multi-hazard risk matrix to identify and prioritize strategic risks facing Iraq’s water sector. This matrix links each hazard with appropriate DSS-based response measures and supports scenario planning under the ICWMS framework. The proposed framework integrates hydro-meteorological data analysis with hydrological simulation models and long-term investment strategies. It also emphasizes the development of institutional frameworks, the promotion of water diplomacy, and the establishment of transboundary water allocation and operational policy agreements. Efforts to enhance national security and regional stability among riparian countries complement these actions to tackle water scarcity effectively. Simultaneously, this framework offers a practical guideline for water managers to adopt the best management policies without bias or discrimination between stakeholders. By addressing the combined impacts of anthropogenic and climate change, the proposed framework aims to ensure rational water allocation, enhance resilience, and secure Iraq’s water strategies, ensuring sustainability for future generations.

The idea of multi-hazard interactions and risk assessment, particularly in relation to both natural hazards and hazards triggered by anthropogenic processes, has been widely used, especially in recent decades. Numerous areas worldwide, as well as various sectors, face exposure to multiple hazards. These hazards encompass natural phenomena like floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, and more. In comparison, the human-induced or anthropogenic processes associated with infrastructure development, along with other potential human activities such as, land and cover use change, contribute to the overall hazard landscape. Both natural hazards and anthropogenic-induced directly led to infrastructure collapse and loss of functionality with other consequences for human lives, economy, beside the environment impacts. Limited studies have been conducted on the implementation of the comprehensive multi-hazard interaction approach, which is globally or regionally required, along with detailed studies on the interaction between different multi-hazard sources and their interrelationships in short-term or long-term scenarios. The current research aims to review previous literature and studies on the multi-hazard interaction approach, methodologies of visualization and classification, as well as explores the potential of multi-hazard associated with road networks, infrastructures, and dams. The research utilizes simulation various models and tools such as, Geographic Information System (GIS) beside Remote Sensing (Rs) techniques. The current study concludes that using multi-hazard maps, hazard matrix, and fragility curves represents highly valuable and very useful and flexible tools for implementing and visualization hot spot areas exposure by multi-hazard consequences and vulnerability analysis for short and long-term scenarios. In addition, the current review highlighted for development a holistic conceptual framework for multi-hazard and risk assessment associated with hydraulic structures such as dams, road networks and infrastructures with hazard exposure analysis to be used as tools for a decision support system (DSS) in order to develop urban resilience, risk management and hazard mitigations.

This article investigates the spectral acceleration of the ground motion generated by the 2017 Sarpol-e Zahab earthquake, examining the spatial distribution of the observed spectra at different periods, revealing a distinct influence of source directivity. The earthquake motions were acquired by the Iranian Strong Motion Network (ISMN), and data from a total of 110 seismic stations were obtained from their network for the purpose of the present study. The regions located south of the epicenter experienced a higher spectral acceleration value compared to those sites located to the north. In addition, estimates from ground motion prediction equations (Abrahmson et al., 2014, ASK14; Akkar et al., 2014, ASB14) provided a basis for comparison. These equations predicted intensities over various distances and periods. The residual analysis results indicate that the ASB14 model provides a more accurate fit when compared to the ASK14 model for distances less than 300 km. However, for distances greater than 300 km, the ASK14 model demonstrates a better fit. The derived response spectra play a significant role in evaluating maximum response amplitudes and for seismic hazard studies. Our assessments combined PSA information with source characteristics, geology, soil conditions, and epicentral distance. The current study highlights the impacts of the 2017 Sarpol-e Zahab earthquake on the Darbandikhan Dam, which caused cracking on the road pavement along the Dam crest and horizontal and vertical displacement in some parts of the dam. Finally, the study evaluates the strong-motion distribution maps of acceleration response spectra (PSA) with 5% damping at various period intervals from (0.1 to 2.0 sec) on the dam site, which could produce the consequences observed for the dam.

Multi-purpose dams play a significant role in water resources management and flood protection by storing and releasing water for a sufficient water supply. Significantly, numerous dam failures are observed in multiple regions. Natural hazards related to dams include extreme floods, drought events, earthquakes, and geological conditions. There are also human-induced impacts, such as inadequate dam operation or maintenance. Numerous studies simulate potential natural extreme events to address the wide-ranging consequences encompassing loss of human life, economic losses, and environmental effects. In addition, international commissions and federal agencies recommend and apply a general framework for dam safety and risk assessment. The current study suggests and develops a flexible framework for multi-hazard indices and risk assessment for Darbandikhan Dam, Iraq, which was impacted by successive extreme climate events, besides a strong earthquake (M 7.3) that occurred on November 12, 2017. Consequently, the earthquake led to various impacts along the dam site, including horizontal and vertical displacement in some places. In addition, consecutive years of drought led to significant shortage inflows to the dam reservoir. The current study methodology focuses on developing a multi-hazard index and risk assessment framework for each potential extreme event and failure mode scenario associated with dam operation and safety. The information required for the particular framework is through integrating the observed with a global dataset based on Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing techniques. Nevertheless, using different tools and models in dataset processing provides the acquisition of the essential input data associated with each probable severe event. The outcomes of the suggested framework will show through multi-hazard maps the affected areas (hotspots) and propagation consequences besides the residual risk and system response for each scenario. In conclusion, developing a framework of multi-hazards risks associated with dam operation provides promising outcomes for risk assessment, warning response, and evacuation tasks based on hazard maps with different spatial and temporal resolutions. In addition, the framework can be used as an assistance tool for decision support systems, planning, and environmental protection associated with multi-purpose dam operation and safety.