Administrative control refers to the measures and procedures adopted by administrative authorities to maintain public order, including environmental public order, through the establishment of restrictions and regulations designed to protect the environment before damage occurs or to mitigate its effects when it does. The Iraqi legislature has clearly regulated this protection under Environmental Protection and Improvement Law No. 27 of 2009, which aims to protect the environment, public health, and natural resources, as well as reduce sources of pollution. The importance of administrative control in protecting the Euphrates River is reflected in environmental monitoring, licensing, inspection, warnings, suspension of non-compliant activities, the imposition of fines, and other administrative measures. The law subjects activities that affect the environment to environmental oversight and grants environmental inspectors powers relating to the inspection and monitoring of facilities and activities governed by its provisions. Environmental police also serve as a supporting enforcement mechanism. Administrative protection of water resources is addressed more specifically in Article 14 of the aforementioned law, which prohibits the discharge of domestic, industrial, service-related, or agricultural liquid waste into inland surface water and groundwater resources unless such waste has been treated in accordance with applicable environmental regulations and standards. The article also prohibits the disposal of solid waste and animal waste into water resources and restricts certain activities that cause water pollution or involve the use of riverbanks in ways that adversely affect water resources. The legislature has also granted administrative authorities direct means of addressing sources of pollution. The minister, or an authorized representative, may issue a warning to a facility or polluting source requiring the elimination of the harmful factor. In cases of non-compliance, measures may be taken, including the suspension of operations, temporary closure, and the imposition of fines until the violation is remedied. These measures demonstrate the preventive nature of administrative control, as public authorities do not have to wait until irreversible environmental damage occurs before intervening; rather, they may act to prevent the continuation of environmentally harmful activities. Accordingly, the effectiveness of administrative control in protecting the Euphrates River does not depend solely on the existence of legal provisions. It also requires the implementation of effective field inspections, closer monitoring of industrial, agricultural, and domestic discharge sources, stronger coordination among administrative, environmental, and local authorities, and the use of modern monitoring technologies to detect pollution sources at an early stage. Recent Iraqi legal studies have emphasized the importance of central and local administrative authorities in providing legal protection for water resources against pollution and activating the administrative and supervisory measures established by law. In conclusion, administrative control represents the first line of preventive defense in protecting the Euphrates River from pollution, given the range of measures available to public authorities to intervene before environmental damage occurs or to mitigate its consequences. Strengthening environmental monitoring, enforcing administrative penalties, responding promptly to pollution sources, and developing coordination mechanisms among the competent authorities are therefore essential to ensuring the protection of this vital water resource and achieving a balance between development requirements and environmental protection. Lecturer Dr. Gathwan Ali Hussein Al-Jubouri College of Law – Al-Mustaqbal University