Water, the next flash-point: tensions rising in the Middle East over shrinking water supplies

June 15, 2012 – MIDDLE EAST – Amid the profound political changes sweeping the Arab world, there are moves to rewrite contentious water-sharing agreements that are becoming a major source of friction in the Middle East as water supplies shrink. In May, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned his neighbors, with Turkey and Syria his main targets that the region faces conflict unless the issue of dwindling water resources is addressed by regional governments. Baghdad is increasingly angry and frustrated at the failure of Turkey, in the north, and Syria, to the west, to resolve a growing crisis over the reduced flow and the deteriorating quality of water from the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers they allow Iraq. Maliki’s biggest fear is that the water shortage, which has been worsening for a decade or more, will trigger violence within Iraq. “As the dust settles on the political unrest of 2011 and new governments and leaders are elected in Libya and Egypt over the next two years and South Sudan joins a group of countries looking to renegotiate the distribution of the Nile, there is likely to be renewed focus on resource security,” the Middle East Economic Digest observed. The water issue is a constant factor in the tension between Israel and the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The business weekly said “the most contentious dispute over water resources in the region” centers on the Jordan River, which flows through Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, Jordan and Israel. Israelis use 66 gallons a day, while Palestinians are limited to 15.4 gallons, even though they claim a major underground aquifer and access to Jordan River. Rivers including the Euphrates, Tigris, Nile and even the Jordan River, which cross national boundaries and are a major source of water supply, could well become flashpoints for rising regional tension. “Equally, governments’ ability to manage their rivers and negotiate with their upstream neighbors could well, as is the case in Iraq, lead to growing unrest at home,” the weekly warned. Thirteen of the 20 states that make up the Arab League rank among the world’s most water-scarce nations. –UPI