Environmental impacts of a sprawling rural city on drinking water supply and quality in view of population growth prognostics and climate changes: a case study

Drinking water supplied to Soran City originates from natural springs, wells, and rivers. The water has the essential requirements of drinking water. In recent years, the water supply has become problematic given the rapid population growth, lower annual precipitation rates due to climate change, and mismanagement of the water supply–demand strategy for near and future perspectives. These issues are compounded by the absence of water treatment plants, the lack of an efficient water distribution network, and the knowledge of seasonal variations in water quality. Despite the explosive population growth from 27,000 in 1991 to 196,895 in 2018 led to enormous pressure on the water supply and available water resources, which are limited. On a larger scale, these problems extend to include the indigenous and ongoing water scarcity that plagues Iraq. In part, this is caused by the neighbouring countries drastically decreasing the available surface water resources through numerous dams built on the Tigris and Euphrates, including the rivers flowing into the Kurdistan Region. Recently, the Kurdistan Region's springs depleted down to 40%. Furthermore, injudicious water usage is a social and administrative problem in Kurdistan, since it largely contributes to greater water loss. Mismanagement of water resources caused pollution and cholera outbreaks recently in the Kurdistan Region. Therefore, water resources represent significant national health, economic, political, and social security issues. This detailed study provides chemical, biological, technical, and statistical insights into the current and futuristic situation of safe drinking water and supply to Soran District, given population growth and climate changes.