Water=Liquid Gold

Problems• Dry Land

– Much of the M.E. and N. Africa are covered with desert. Sahara, Rub Al Khali, and part of Iran and Afghanistan are also desert.

• Drought Conditions– In the 1990’s severe droughts began and rainfall in

the M.E. fell to less than 10%

• Population Growth– M.E. countries are experiencing population growth– Growth rates average 2.5%– Egypt’s population had grown by 1 million people– 20% of land with more than 10% of population and

2% fresh water.

The amount of water available per person in the arid region will halve

by 2050, a report from the bank estimates.

Adilla Finchaan, 50, checks her drought-stricken land in Latifiyah, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, in this photo taken in July 2009. Below-average rainfall and insufficient water in the Euphrates and Tigris rivers — something the Iraqis have blamed on upstream dams in Turkey and Syria — have left Iraq bone-dry for a second straight year.

• Syria and Iraq blame Turkey's huge network of dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for reducing water supplies by 50 percent

Problems Continued

• Agriculture– Agricultural use of water is enormous– In Jordan, farming makes up less than 10% of GDP,

but uses 80% of the water

• Pollution– Poor water quality is a result of development and

agriculture– Septic tank leaks, run off from livestock and

pesticides, oil and gas drilling– Tigris, Nile, and Euphrates are polluted

With 85% of water-use devoted to agriculture, countries such as Morocco will have to cut back on irrigation and switch to crops that require less water but earn more money.

Dead Sea is shrinking- Canal to connect Red/Dead Sea to help spread

water supply Two Seas Canal

Jordan, Euphrates, and Tigris are getting smaller

Yemen- People are moving to cities due to aquifers depleting.

Solutions• Desalination

– Removes salt from seawater– Heated, steamed, then cooled– Expensive and uses a lot of energy

• Treated Wastewater– Some treat wastewater multiple times– Used for crops – People fear conatmination

• Imports– Pipelines built for water distribution– Countries must work together to maintain pipelines

Solutions Continued

• Alternative Water Sources– Storing rainwater, capture winter thaws,

importing water tankers, cloud seeding

• Conservation– Bedouins live on 4-5 liters of water per day– Gulf states are among the highest users in the

world

Solutions include

• Building dams

• Limiting agriculture to water-intolerant crops

• Re-Use of waste water

• Aquifers

• Qanats

Other Possibilities?

• Discuss with others, possible solutions your that could the water shortage in the Middle East.

• What did you come up with?

How does access to water effect the population?

• What areas have the highest population?– Along river valleys– Turkey– And where the aquifers are located

• What areas have the least population?– The driest areas- Central Yemen, Oman,

Saudi Arabia, Egypt outside of the Nile.

Did you know??

• One billion people lack access to clean water.

• Nearly half of the world’s population will live in water-stressed areas by 2025.

• Many say that the next war fought in the Middle East will be over water, not oil.

Did you know??

• That GE is the world’s largest supplier of desalination plants in the world.

• GE’s desalination plants reclaim 2 trillion gallons of water a day.

• Their reverse osmosis plants take waste water and change it to 100 million gallons of water a day.

Movie…

Did you listen??? • What type of desalinations was mentioned

in this video?– Reverse Osmosis

• When did the largest water treatment plant in Africa open? – November 2007

• What is the plant called?– Hamma Plant

• How many people will it supply water to?– 1million people

Why isn’t desalination a quick fix?

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