alternatehistory.com

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?
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