Agriculture in Syria runoff most of the year. The river flows southeastward across the arid Syrian Plateau into Iraq, where it joins the Tigris River shortly before emptying into the Persian Gulf. In addition to Syria, both Turkey and Iraq use dams on the Euphrates for hydroelectric power, water control, storage, and irrigation. In the mid-1980s, about a half of the annual Euphrates River flow was used by these three countries. Syrians have long used the Euphrates for irrigation, but, because the major systems were destroyed centuries ago, they now make only limited use of the river's flow. In the mid-1980s, the Euphrates
Subsurface flow where infiltration occurred, under the force of gravity or gravity induced pressures. Groundwater tends to move slowly, and is replenished slowly, so it can remain in aquifers for thousands of years. Mainly, water flows through the ground which leads to the ocean where the cycle begins again. Flow within the soil body may take place under unsaturated conditions, but faster subsurface flow is associated with localized soil saturation.* Subsurface flow Subsurface flow, in hydrology, is the flow of water beneath earth's surface as part of the water cycle. In the water cycle, when precipitation falls on the earth's land, some