<P> Iraq suffers from desertification and soil salination due in large part to thousands of years of agricultural activity . Water and plant life are sparse . Saddam Hussein's government water - control projects drained the inhabited marsh areas east of An Nasiriyah by drying up or diverting streams and rivers . Shi'a Muslims were displaced under the Ba'athist regime . The destruction of the natural habitat poses serious threats to the area's wildlife populations . There are also inadequate supplies of potable water . </P> <P> The marshlands were an extensive natural wetlands ecosystem which developed over thousands of years in the Tigris--Euphrates basin and once covered 15--20,000 square kilometers . According to the United Nations Environmental Program and the AMAR Charitable Foundation, between 84% and 90% of the marshes have been destroyed since the 1970s . In 1994, 60 percent of the wetlands were destroyed by Hussein's regime--drained to permit military access and greater political control of the native Marsh Arabs . Canals, dykes and dams were built routing the water of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers around the marshes, instead of allowing water to move slowly through the marshland . After part of the Euphrates was dried up due to re-routing its water to the sea, a dam was built so water could not back up from the Tigris and sustain the former marshland . Some marshlands were burned and pipes buried underground helped to carry away water for quicker drying . </P> <P> The drying of the marshes led to the disappearance of the salt - tolerant vegetation; the plankton rich waters that fertilized surrounding soils; 52 native fish species; the wild boar, red fox, buffalo and water birds of the marsh habitat . </P> <P> The issue of water rights became a point of contention for Iraq, Turkey and Syria beginning in the 1960s when Turkey implemented a public - works project (the GAP project) aimed at harvesting the water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers through the construction of 22 dams, for irrigation and hydroelectric energy purposes . Although the water dispute between Turkey and Syria was more problematic, the GAP project was also perceived as a threat by Iraq . The tension between Turkey and Iraq about the issue was increased by the effect of Syria and Turkey's participation in the UN embargo against Iraq following the Gulf War . However, the issue had never become as significant as the water dispute between Turkey and Syria . </P>

Between the euphrates and the tigris which river has more tributaries