Oil is fine, what about the depleting water?

The Middle East is known for its oil wealth. The countries of this region have fought many a battle in the past to own this precious natural reserve. Today, the other contentious issue that threatens to engulf the region is water.

There is a palpable tension among Israel, Syria and Jordan over sharing of water from the common rivers that flow through these countries. Unlike religion which can be used or misused to dictate the human psyche; or oil which means immediate cash inflow; water-related issues get highlighted only when passions run high. And water in the Middle East has become as precious as oil!

Water prospects are bleak for the future, as countries such as Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Israel, and Egypt continue to suffer. The worst sufferers are Jordan, Libya, and the nations of the Arabian Peninsula.

For Palestinians, it should be a matter of concern that the Gaza Strip is perennially short of water. Gulf States as a whole are among the highest per capita users of water in the world and much of its water is imported.

According to one study, the quantity of water imported indirectly into the Gulf countries as food amounts to equivalent of river Nile's annual flow in Egypt.

The Middle East consumes more water than its annual renewable water supply.

Some projections suggest that by 2025 domestic uses (about 100 litres per person per day), plus municipal and industrial uses, will require all the fresh water available, leaving none for agriculture. Worse, even if no more water is used for agriculture in the next few years, these countries are in trouble: their water use is unsustainable, which implies that their whole economy could be in difficulty.

Water management

Water crisis in the Middle East could be mitigated to some extent by integrating conservation and development activities and by laying greater emphasis on water management. Issues like recycling of water should be taken up with all seriousness.

The use of treated, recycled sewage water is accepted practice in countries, such as Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Morocco.

Some more countries will be compelled to shift to recycled water for irrigating crops in the years to come, notwithstanding the fear that the European Community may slap an embargo on crops grown on reclaimed sewage land and recycled water.

People in the Middle East believe that such a move needs to be resisted as the EC might be more interested in protecting European farmers than the quality of crops.

Ban or not, some countries in the Middle East seem keen to go ahead and raise their crops on recycled water. Desalination of seawater is another way out to meet any water shortage. This is possible in countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE where the required energy can be generated cheaply through oil reserves.

The Middle East is endowed with some of the greatest rivers such as Nile, Euphrates and Tigris. There are many short streams that are replenished regularly by rainfall, others contain water buried in sediments eons ago while a few cities are dependent on aquifers. The region has a major challenge to unearth this water and develop fresh water aquifers and rivers especially in the upstream countries such as Ethiopia and Turkey.

Nevertheless, the largest potential source of water for the most countries in the region can be found through savings achieved by conservation.

Efficiency of water as practiced in irrigation is one example. Israel is a model of efficiency in irrigation.

It pioneered the development of drip irrigation and has gone on to improve the technique with sensors and computer controls that respond to plant requirements. Today, in Israel, water use per irrigated hectare is 40 per cent less than it was in 1955.

Drip irrigation also reduces the likelihood of both salinisation and pollution from runoff.
Other nations in the region, notably Jordan, have taken to drip irrigation.

Jordanians produce their own pipes and other equipment. Unfortunately, drip irrigation is a capital-intensive technology. Still, it can be practiced wherever it is feasible. Water is a prime natural resource, a basic human need, a precious national asset and economic resource. It is sad that Middle East countries are running out of their indigenous water supplies.

Given the gloomy water prospects, these nations need to ensure that economically efficient, ecologically sustainable, and politically acceptable alternatives are developed otherwise they might find themselves fighting many a losing battle over water in the coming decades.

For instance, Wazzani river threatens the stability of the Israel-Lebanon border.

How to share water from the Banyas and Hasbani rivers is an issue in Israel, Syria and Lebanon. The region must tighten water management practices in each of the riparian states, which should include rationing, cut-backs to agriculture, restructuring of water pricing and allocations. Multilateral co-operation is the region's only choice as water does not belong to any one person or a country but to humankind.

Sensitive issue

Any war on this sensitive issue will be foolhardy. Once any war settles, the nations will be left with the problem of parched lands and dry rivers.

Wisdom, therefore, lies in establishing a regional water policy on the basis of mutual co-operation and understanding. It is time every nation in this region acted prudently to realise the dream of turning the desert green.

Gopal Sutar is Media Editor, SABIC, Saudi Arabia