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Over the past half-century the agricultural landscape of northeastern Syria has been transformed, due in large part to the introduction of significant irrigation to the steppe. At the beginning of this period, irrigation was confined almost entirely to river floodplains and natural depressions. The steppe was dominated by wintertime rain-fed agriculture and year-round grazing. The introduction of diesel-powered wells and, subsequently, state-operated dam and canal systems, has led to the expansion of both wintertime and summertime irrigation on the steppe away from the floodplain. The sustainability of these irrigation projects has always been suspect. Even as technologies for water extraction have allowed for previously impossible patterns of cultivation, the combination of declining water quality, a deepening water-table, and degradation-prone soils have limited crop yields and led to the rapid abandonment of many steppe farms. The actual trajectory of land-use in the region is determined by social and political forces as well as by hydrology and surficial geology. In this paper we examine recent land-use history in the watersheds of two tributaries of the Euphrates River, the Balikh and Khabur. A review of historical drivers of development in the region is combined with satellite analyses to provide an overview of the structure and dynamics of land-use in this water-limited region. Copyright (0 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.