From Morocco to Iraq…the water scarcity crisis is worsening in the Arab world | sciences

The Arab countries face a bleak future due to the worsening problem of water security. The Arab per capita share of fresh water does not exceed 800 cubic meters per year, at a time when the United Nations has defined water poverty at one thousand cubic meters of water per capita per year.

UNEP defines water security as the availability of sufficient, reliable and resilient quantity and quality of fresh water for livelihoods, public health, industry, ecosystems and productive economies, together with an acceptable level of water-related risks to people, environments and economies.

Water crisis.. The Arab world is no exception

Water scarcity already affects all continents. According to the United Nations, more than a billion people currently live in areas suffering from water scarcity, and 500 million people are approaching this situation.

Across the world, 1.6 billion people face water shortages, and 1.5 million people, most of them children, die every year from causes related to either water shortages or pollution.

It seems remarkable that many Arab countries are on the list of countries most suffering from the water crisis, and the Middle East and North Africa region suffers from water stress, as 83% of the population faces very high water pressure, while 74% of the population of South Asia is exposed to similar conditions.

According to the United Nations Water Report for 2023, about 50 million people in the Arab region lack access to basic drinking water, and 390 million people, or about 90% of the total population of the Arab world, suffer from water scarcity.

According to the researcher and academic specializing in development and water resources, Hussein Rahili, in his interview with Al Jazeera Net, this means a decline in the amount of water available to an individual to less than 500 cubic meters annually, that is, less than half of the water poverty limit set by the United Nations. Therefore, the reality of water In the Arab world, especially from 2015 until today, it indicates the transformation of water scarcity into water scarcity.”

Our share of water is constantly declining

Water scarcity is a natural and human phenomenon. There is enough fresh water on the planet for more than 8 billion people, but it is unevenly distributed.

For most of the residents of the Arab region, the “elixir of life” has become rare, as the Arabs’ share is only 1% of the global freshwater resources, even though the total area of ​​the Arab countries constitutes 10% of the world’s area, and their population represents about 6% of the planet’s population, and this is what makes The Arab per capita share of fresh water is very small. In 12 Arab countries, the per capita share is less than the level of scarcity according to World Health Organization standards.

8 Arab countries are among the 10 poorest countries in the world in terms of per capita share of renewable water, which is shallow surface and groundwater resources, and the percentage used of renewable water annually exceeds 4 times the safe percentage set at about 50% in 7 Arab countries.

According to the Arab Monetary Fund report, there is only one Arab country that is self-sufficient in water, which is Mauritania, as its per capita share reaches more than 1,700 cubic meters of water annually.

UNICEF explains that 11 out of the 17 countries most affected by water scarcity are in the Middle East and North Africa, and that 9 out of 10 children are threatened by potential dangers.

The most water-scarce region

Half of the renewable water that Arab countries receive annually comes from outside the region via shared rivers and aquifers, which increases the complexity of managing these resources. In this context, Rahili points out that “with the exception of some Arab countries that possess multiple historical water sources, such as Egypt and Iraq In Syria, water resources in the Arab world from the ocean to the Gulf are limited and unstable because the climate is semi-arid and rainfall is historically weak.

But even these countries are no longer an exception to the equation of water scarcity in the Arab world, and the situation in them is on the way to change with the accelerating depletion of these surface resources. Iraq, for example, has become one of the Arab countries that suffers from a water scarcity crisis due to the exploitation of the upstream countries of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and their control over water. The share of millions of Iraqi citizens through the establishment of irrigation projects and the construction of dams that contribute to the exacerbation of the problem.

If Iraq is promised thirst, the crisis will reach its peak in Egypt, the largest Arab country in terms of population, which has few resources of internal renewable fresh water, and the Nile River provides more than 90% of its water resources, or about 55 billion cubic meters, while Rainwater and underground wells represent a very small percentage.

According to the World Bank, Egypt’s annual water supply is only 60 billion cubic meters, which is less than the required amount estimated at about 114 billion cubic meters annually to meet the needs of its population of more than 100 million people, as Egypt faces an annual water deficit of about 20 billion. cubic meter.

Egypt has already exceeded the limit set by the United Nations for water scarcity, and is now dangerously approaching the stage of absolute water scarcity, which the United Nations has set at less than 500 cubic meters of water per capita per year.

This raises concerns about the repercussions of the construction of the Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia on Egypt’s share of the Nile waters directly, especially in light of frequent reports about the impact of the fifth filling of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam last July. However, according to Egyptian officials, Egypt suffers from water poverty even without taking Considering the impact of the Renaissance Dam, which has recently turned into one of the most prominent crises regarding the sharing of water resources in the world.

Gulf countries

The Gulf countries are also among the countries most suffering from the water crisis, especially since the desert constitutes the largest percentage of its area, and this is accompanied by a scarcity of fresh water compared to other countries.

These countries are located in a region considered the most scarce in water resources, as the only natural sources available are rain and groundwater, the reserves of which in the Arab world are estimated at approximately 7,734 billion cubic meters, of which 42 billion are renewed annually, and 35 billion cubic meters are available for use.

But these countries have consumed high percentages of their water reserves over the years, until groundwater levels witnessed a decline, according to a study published by the scientific journal “Nature” last January, and the numbers indicate that the percentage used annually of renewable water exceeds 4 times the specified safe percentage. By about 50% in 7 Arab countries.

In light of the high demand resulting from population growth, resorting to industrial solutions – such as increasing the productivity of seawater desalination plants and increasing the number of dams built to contain rainwater and floods – was necessary to avoid mass thirst.

The Gulf countries produce 40% of the world’s desalinated seawater, and Saudi Arabia alone is responsible for a fifth of global production, and today this water represents more than 75% of the water used in the Gulf countries, but desalination was never an option, but rather a necessity that does not, to this day, hide concerns about the abundance of water. in the future.

The water crisis does not exclude Israel’s theft of Palestine’s water. The Palestinian’s share was only 45 liters per day before the outbreak of the last war, while the Israeli gets 250 liters, and the settler gets 400 liters, in addition to Israel’s theft of the water of the occupied Syrian Golan and southern Lebanon.

Israel also extended its control over the Wazzani River, which feeds the Jordan River, after the invasion of Lebanon in 1978, and installed pumps and pipes to deliver water from the Hasbani River to northern Israel, affecting Jordan’s share of water.

North Africa

The situation in North Africa was not better than that of the Arabs in Asia. There are many examples that show the extent of the challenges that this region faces in dealing with the problem of water scarcity. Countries such as Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania are suffering from this crisis severely.

In Tunisia, where successive years of drought threaten to classify it as water poverty, government agencies resorted in March of last year to cutting off water to homes for 7 hours a day to reduce consumption as a temporary solution to confront the water scarcity crisis. The Tunisian Water Observatory documented approximately Out of 600 reports of water outages.

The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights issued a study stating that the per capita share of water does not exceed 400 cubic meters annually, despite the fact that Tunisia has no less than 30 dams between traditional and strategic agricultural, but the “National Observatory of Agriculture” warned that the filling rate of these dams had declined to 23.1%. Last September, in a worrying scene that reflects the deteriorating water situation in the country.

In Morocco, water imports have declined significantly, reaching 14 billion cubic metres, and the per capita share of water is estimated at about 650 cubic metres, which represents a significant decline from the situation in 1960 when the per capita share was 2,500.

Water is at the heart of the climate crisis

Founder of the International Water Bank and member of the International and Arab Water Council, Rashad Al Shawa, told Al Jazeera Net, “The water poverty crisis in the Arab countries is due to several multiple and interconnected reasons, including political and economic choices, increasing population and civilizational growth, industrialization, ineffective water management practices, and the aging of the water infrastructure.” sanitation, water waste and excessive use, especially in some areas.”

There are several other reasons for this crisis, the most important of which is the predominantly desert climate in the Arab region. 87% of the Arab world’s terrain is desert. In addition to this, widespread environmental deterioration and the impact of climate change represented by a decline in rain and snow precipitation, the percentage of which in the Arab world does not exceed 2% of Total global precipitation.

With climate change and fluctuations come fluctuating rainfall patterns and extreme temperatures, leading to shortening of rainy seasons and lengthening of dry seasons, and these shifts are severely impacting the lives and livelihoods of the people of this region.

Regarding the distribution of rainwater in the Arab countries, 60% of rainwater falls in summer, most of it in the Sudan Basin, the Horn of Africa, Yemen, and Mauritania, and 4% of rainwater falls in winter in the Maghreb and the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

Regarding the impact of climate change on what is known as “water security” for the residents of the Arab region, Rahili says that some Arab countries are witnessing heavy rains that have greened the deserts, and the matter has reached the point of floods, while other countries have not witnessed rainfall for a long period, which has led to droughts. Frequent, in addition to loss of water quality due to saltwater immersion.

The risk of drought here is not only linked to rivers. Morocco, for example, does not have any rivers or groundwater, but rather relies on rainwater. However, farmers are fighting drought, which exposes their crops to the risk of damage, and despite the return of rain during the past year, the level of many Moroccan dams has reached to a weak level, which prompted them to sound the alarm.

As for Algeria, which has suffered from the clear repercussions of climate change on the ground through drought, water scarcity and forest fires, it has classified itself as one of the poor countries in terms of water resources, due to long and recurring periods of drought over the past few years, and there is still a lack of recorded rainfall. By approximately 40%.

The Algerian government has developed an urgent plan to confront the water shortage resulting from the scarcity of rainwater, including announcing the activation of the role of the police in monitoring water use in all areas to combat waste.

Despite these efforts, the reality is that water in the Arab world is scarce, and one of the reasons behind this lies in the poor distribution of available water resources, as agriculture ranks first in water consumption in the Arab world at 91% of the volume of public consumption, as farmers rely on irrigation methods. Traditional waste leads to water waste, while industry exploits 4% and drinking 5%.

According to Shawa, this would have a negative impact on food security, as 30% of arable land in Arab countries is vulnerable to desertification due to water shortages, and it puts Arab countries that already suffer from a scarcity of water sources in front of real threats to their food and life security, and may push them to To take steps to protect the lives of their communities.

Who will quench our thirst in the future?

Some people believe that our daily consumption of water as individuals does not make a big difference in the global crisis and that it is a problem of countries. In the end, your needs do not exceed 4 liters of water per day, but in reality the problem is not the water you see, but rather the water you do not see.

A lot of water is wasted, polluted, and is not managed sustainably, and experts say that the Arab world only exploits 50% of its water resources, amounting to about 350 billion cubic meters, and the rest is vulnerable to waste and loss.

For example, one bottle of soda takes 28 liters of natural water to make, while one cup of coffee requires 135 liters to grow grains. Also, more than 90% of the water consumed in the world goes to agriculture and livestock raising.

Thermal power plants represent one of the largest consumers of water around the world because they use large amounts of water for cooling, so relying on wind and solar energy contributes to reducing water use.

While many experts call on governments to accelerate efforts to combat the water scarcity crisis, another group stresses the importance of changing the culture of water consumption among Arabs, so that habits that witness unjustified wasteful use of water are abandoned.

For example, global statistics indicate that the Saudi citizen is the third largest consumer of water in the world at a rate ranging between 263 and 300 liters per day, and this consumption is equivalent to about twice the global average consumption, and according to a government study, 86% of Saudis do not know that there is a scarcity of water. Water sources in the Kingdom.

In summary, water scarcity is expected to intensify significantly over the next two decades. By 2050, nearly half of the world’s urban population is expected to live in water-scarce areas.