No catastrophic collapse of Iraqi Irrigation?

The Iraqi irrigation system was built up over thousands of years, turning large parts of Iraq into grassland or arable land. The Abbasids especially made great effort to improve the irrigation systems. As the Abbasids declined, floods in the area around 1200 changed the course of the Euphrates and Tigris, and the Abbasids were too weak by this time to fix the old slty irrigation canals. When the Mongols came, they finished off the irrigation system, essentially rendering previously fertile areas of Iraq desert.

However, is it possible for the irrigation systems to survive the Abbasids, IE no floods, and the Mongols avoid destroying them? If so, what would be the effects on the area, now that it was more valuable and could sustain a higher population?
 
The first problem with the irrigation systems was actually the civil war between Ma'mun and Amin, Ma'mun (Tahir really) cut the irrigation canals in the region in preparation for the siege and they were never repaired enough to restore them completely.

ED: Crap, can't remember if it was the Ma'mun/Amin war or the Mutazz/Muhtadi/Mutamid period. I want to say there were Turks involved.
 
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