Middle East Will Face Serious Water Crisis

• 09.01.2015, 17:22
•  Near East,  World

Countries in the Middle East will face serious water crisis in 25 years. Such statement was made by the experts of the World Resources Institute (WRI). New WRI rankings place 14 of the world’s 33 most water-stressed countries in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Palestine, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran and Lebanon, The Guardian reports. The Persian Gulf 6 rich monarchies will suffer most of all. According to experts  Middle East countries consume water resources in quite irresponsible way, which may cause food crisis in the future. Thus new wars are expected to happen because of the water resource shortage.  

It should be noted that according to the reports of the strategic research institutes published recently, the most expensive liquid in the Middle East is water. It is known that the Middle East and North Africa region is considered to be one of the world's most populated regions. However, only one percent of the planet's fresh water is located there. This is the poorest region in the world in terms of water resources. Water crisis in the Middle East is conditioned not only by the shortage of resources but also by economic and political difficulties.

Water disputes became the subject of bilateral affairs after World War II when new countries appeared in the Middle East. They gradually began implementing water projects. Now there are serious disagreements over Jordan, Nile anf Tigris-Euphrates river basins. The main reason of the disputes over Tigris-Euphrates river basin is the fact that the basin's countries – Syria, Iraq and Turkey have failed to sign a comprehensive agreement because of their political disagreements. Syria and Iraq heavily depend on Turkey's actions. At the same time the issue of sharing the waters of the Jordan River has become one of the key issues in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

It should be also noted that previously this year, after difficult talks, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia  signed a declaration on the Nile water sharing principles. This document is expected to defuse tensions between the Nile basin countries.