The effect of dams built on Botan Stream on climate parameters in Siirt

Global warming and climate change have become one of the most important problems of the late 20th and 21st centuries. In addition to natural changes, human activities undoubtedly affect climate change globally. However, global warming and climate change show significant differences from region to region. Especially the subtropical and the Mediterranean macro-climatic zone are among the most affected areas. There is an increase in temperature and a corresponding decrease in precipitation. In the study area, increases in average temperatures, maximum temperatures and minimum temperatures are evident. There are also clear decreases in precipitation parameters. In addition to attributing these decreases to climate changes in general, we can also locally attribute them to dams. While there are many dams in the area, the largest ones are Ilısu and Alkumru dams. We can see the effects of dams on Siirt climate locally in temperature, precipitation, humidity and evaporation parameters after 2010. These effects are felt in many areas from vegetation to agricultural activities. For the study area, the data of Siirt, Batman, Şırnak and Mardin stations within the borders of the largest dam in the region were used. The data of each station between 1970-2010 before the dam was built and the data between 2010-2024 after the dam was built were compared. The evaporation parameter, which is one of these comparisons, affects the settlements around the dam, although it is not as high as in the oceans and seas where evaporation occurs to a large extent. The topography prevents the impact of the dam from penetrating inland. The widespread view among the public that dams affect the climate is also seen in our data. In this study, environmental conditions of the site, climate parameters and Mann-Kendall and Theil-Sen estimator trend analysis were used to support this view. The results are consistent with the data between 1970-2010 and 2010-2024.