James Gavin
Half of the countries in the Middle East and North Africa region consume more water on average than they are receiving in rainfall. Yet the per capita water availability in the region is projected to fall by half by 2050, writes James Gavin...
Such are the precarious fundamentals of the region's water sector. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region remains the most water-scarce region of the world and in recent years the amount of water available per person has declined dramatically. According to Julia Bucknall, the World Bank's leading natural resources management specialist: "The MENA region will be seeing a lot more people trying to manage with a lot less water."
Worldwide, average water availability per person is close to 7,000m3 per year, whereas in the MENA region, only around 1,200m3 per person per year is available. Moreover, with the population expected to grow from around 300 million to around 500 million in 2025, per capita availability will halve by 2050. Water precipitation will also drop by up to 30 per cent by that date.
The picture is far from uniform. Whereas the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and Yemen largely source their water needs from groundwater, Egypt and Iraq are dependent on surface water from the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates rivers respectively. However, all are facing, to varying degrees, issues of water shortage.
Some countries show dangerous consumption trends. Since the 1960s, individuals have been drilling aquifers without official licences, meaning that the MENA region is using more of its renewable water resources than other parts of the world.
Sometimes this has had disastrous effects, with deteriorating water quality. Thousands of Jordanians living in villages in the north of the country were rushed to hospital complaining of stomach upsets in 2007 after reports of water contamination. A possible cause of this was the contamination of the water supply with sewage.
Food for thought
With the vast majority of the region's water used in agriculture - up to 85 per cent, according to World Bank estimates - the water shortage has significant ramifications for the region's food output. It already imports about half of its grain, and the large increases in commodity prices since 2007 have left the average Middle Eastern consumer to bear the burden at the checkout and in the souk.
The region's authorities have devoted an increasing proportion of their infrastructure budgets towards water in recent years, which has had a positive impact on the coverage of water supply. Around three-quarters of the region's population now have access to clean water.
Some countries have ambitious schemes to redistribute water resources in development. Morocco has invested in a scheme to move water through 13 interbasin transfer systems, with a cumulative length of more than 1,100km, capable of delivering a volume of 2.5 billion m3/year.
The MENA region leads the world in non-traditional water technologies such as desalination. The region now accounts for around 60 per cent of the world's desalination capacity. Algeria has 42 units with a total capacity in 2004 of 59 million m3/year. The Ministry of Water Resources is building 28 new large-scale desalination plants, with a combined capacity of about 712 million m3/year.
In the Gulf, private desalination projects have been around for many years, and Saudi Arabia is to build 4.5 million m3/day in desalination capacity by 2024, requiring $20 billion in new spend.
These are valuable efforts. However, the most urgent priority is to establish a suitable water resource management system. The current cost of subsiding water is proving expensive and inefficient, forcing cash-strapped utilities to put off essential maintenance works. The result - more water lost in the system. In Saudi Arabia, nearly one-third of water is lost via leaks, at more than 1 billion m3/day. The figure in Jordan, with 44 per cent of water lost, is even worse.
Some governments are taking action to improve the economic incentives. Dubai announced, in 2008, that it would introduce a new tariff system that would be matched to water consumption levels. Dubai Electricity & Water Authority said it would levy charges of AED0.04 (one cent) per gallon for consumers.
Waste not, want not
Another new strategy is to do more to encourage water conservation. In the UAE, under Abu Dhabi's Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design directive, water taps will have flow restrictors fitted, while in Saudi Arabia, the Water & Electricity Ministry has distributed 33 million free water conservation kits to consumers, generating savings in use of around 30 per cent. Closed-cycle systems, where all water is captured and reused, are being introduced in the UAE.
Increasingly, the water problems in MENA do not lend themselves to national resolution. In the Levant, water is now a cross-border issue. Jordan shares two of its biggest groundwater basins with its neighbours Saudi Arabia and Syria. Israel, meanwhile, has built a dam that has blocked water flowing from Lake Tiberias into the Jordan river. This has left the 110 million m3 capacity Wehdah dam barely 10 per cent full.
These kinds of challenges will necessitate a joined-up approach to water strategy from Middle Eastern authorities. This means devising a comprehensive plan for conserving and producing water, matching consumption to supply and exploring greater possibilities for the reuse of water.
As the World Bank says, the lesson from history is that people adapt when faced with water scarcity, and people in MENA will find a way to live with less water. The hope must be that they will be able to manage that process gradually, rather than as a kneejerk response to a crisis.
Global Arab Network
This article was first published in Business Focus (Issue 2, 2009), a Middle East Association publication produced by Newsdesk Media Ltd.
Half of the countries in the Middle East and North Africa region consume more water on average than they are receiving in rainfall. Yet the per capita water availability in the region is projected to fall by half by 2050, writes James Gavin...
Such are the precarious fundamentals of the region's water sector. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region remains the most water-scarce region of the world and in recent years the amount of water available per person has declined dramatically. According to Julia Bucknall, the World Bank's leading natural resources management specialist: "The MENA region will be seeing a lot more people trying to manage with a lot less water."
Worldwide, average water availability per person is close to 7,000m3 per year, whereas in the MENA region, only around 1,200m3 per person per year is available. Moreover, with the population expected to grow from around 300 million to around 500 million in 2025, per capita availability will halve by 2050. Water precipitation will also drop by up to 30 per cent by that date.
The picture is far from uniform. Whereas the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and Yemen largely source their water needs from groundwater, Egypt and Iraq are dependent on surface water from the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates rivers respectively. However, all are facing, to varying degrees, issues of water shortage.
Some countries show dangerous consumption trends. Since the 1960s, individuals have been drilling aquifers without official licences, meaning that the MENA region is using more of its renewable water resources than other parts of the world.
Sometimes this has had disastrous effects, with deteriorating water quality. Thousands of Jordanians living in villages in the north of the country were rushed to hospital complaining of stomach upsets in 2007 after reports of water contamination. A possible cause of this was the contamination of the water supply with sewage.
Food for thought
With the vast majority of the region's water used in agriculture - up to 85 per cent, according to World Bank estimates - the water shortage has significant ramifications for the region's food output. It already imports about half of its grain, and the large increases in commodity prices since 2007 have left the average Middle Eastern consumer to bear the burden at the checkout and in the souk.
The region's authorities have devoted an increasing proportion of their infrastructure budgets towards water in recent years, which has had a positive impact on the coverage of water supply. Around three-quarters of the region's population now have access to clean water.
Some countries have ambitious schemes to redistribute water resources in development. Morocco has invested in a scheme to move water through 13 interbasin transfer systems, with a cumulative length of more than 1,100km, capable of delivering a volume of 2.5 billion m3/year.
The MENA region leads the world in non-traditional water technologies such as desalination. The region now accounts for around 60 per cent of the world's desalination capacity. Algeria has 42 units with a total capacity in 2004 of 59 million m3/year. The Ministry of Water Resources is building 28 new large-scale desalination plants, with a combined capacity of about 712 million m3/year.
In the Gulf, private desalination projects have been around for many years, and Saudi Arabia is to build 4.5 million m3/day in desalination capacity by 2024, requiring $20 billion in new spend.
These are valuable efforts. However, the most urgent priority is to establish a suitable water resource management system. The current cost of subsiding water is proving expensive and inefficient, forcing cash-strapped utilities to put off essential maintenance works. The result - more water lost in the system. In Saudi Arabia, nearly one-third of water is lost via leaks, at more than 1 billion m3/day. The figure in Jordan, with 44 per cent of water lost, is even worse.
Some governments are taking action to improve the economic incentives. Dubai announced, in 2008, that it would introduce a new tariff system that would be matched to water consumption levels. Dubai Electricity & Water Authority said it would levy charges of AED0.04 (one cent) per gallon for consumers.
Waste not, want not
Another new strategy is to do more to encourage water conservation. In the UAE, under Abu Dhabi's Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design directive, water taps will have flow restrictors fitted, while in Saudi Arabia, the Water & Electricity Ministry has distributed 33 million free water conservation kits to consumers, generating savings in use of around 30 per cent. Closed-cycle systems, where all water is captured and reused, are being introduced in the UAE.
Increasingly, the water problems in MENA do not lend themselves to national resolution. In the Levant, water is now a cross-border issue. Jordan shares two of its biggest groundwater basins with its neighbours Saudi Arabia and Syria. Israel, meanwhile, has built a dam that has blocked water flowing from Lake Tiberias into the Jordan river. This has left the 110 million m3 capacity Wehdah dam barely 10 per cent full.
These kinds of challenges will necessitate a joined-up approach to water strategy from Middle Eastern authorities. This means devising a comprehensive plan for conserving and producing water, matching consumption to supply and exploring greater possibilities for the reuse of water.
As the World Bank says, the lesson from history is that people adapt when faced with water scarcity, and people in MENA will find a way to live with less water. The hope must be that they will be able to manage that process gradually, rather than as a kneejerk response to a crisis.
Global Arab Network
This article was first published in Business Focus (Issue 2, 2009), a Middle East Association publication produced by Newsdesk Media Ltd.
