1. Pollution and Unequal Distribution of Water MIDDLE EAST
SS7G6 The student will discuss environmental issues across Southwest Asia (Middle East).
a. Explain how water pollution and the unequal distribution of water impacts irrigation and drinking water.

2. Got Water?

5. Predominantly arid, water is a critical resource in the Middle East
Predominantly arid, water is a critical resource in the Middle East. Rivers are few, and the demand for water is increasing as populations grow.

7. Water Stress Index 2012 TOP 10 Rank Country 1 Bahrain 2 Qatar 3 Kuwait4
Libya 5
Djibouti 6
U.A.E 7
Yemen 8
Saudi Arabia 9
Oman 10
Egypt
Maplecroft-

8. Are you surprised ?
The 16 most water-stressed countries on earth are all in the Middle East and North Africa, with Bahrain at the top of the ranking, followed by Libya, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia and Syria.
risk analysts Maplecroft.

9. Unequal Distribution
Water is a natural resource that is unevenly distributed in the Middle East.
Some countries, like Turkey and Iraq, have major rivers that provide enough drinking water for farming communities.

10. Israel, Syria, and Jordan share the Jordan River.
Turkey
Turkey and Iraq, share the Tigris and Euphrates river systems.
Syria
Tigris
Lebanon
Israel
Iraq
Iran
Euphrates
Jordan River
Jordan
Kuwait
Bahrain
The water scarcity gets much worse for countries further down south.
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
U.A.E
Oman
Yemen

11. Where does all the water go?
In the Middle East, about 85 percent of water is being used for agriculture farming. The region has as much irrigated land as the United States!

12. Irrigation?
To bring water from local rivers, underground aquifers, or any other source to land.

13. Aquifers: Water trapped underground in huge reservoirs, and like oil, no one knows how much there is—but experts do know that when it's gone, it's gone…
As shown, the “footprint” (gray) represents how much water people are drawing from the aquifer, compared with how much the aquifer actually holds (in red, orange or yellow, depending on how bad the water imbalance is).

14. Irrigation
Irrigation is important in the arid regions, as farmers struggle to ring water to their fields from local rivers and from underground aquifers. However… this comes with a cost.

15. Turkey’s Ataturk Dam
Turkey’s Ataturk Dam uses the Euphrates River to irrigate arid land. But , for Syria and Iraq, which share the waters of the Euphrates, this is a problem…

18. Jordan River (another example)
By the time the Jordan River reaches its end, most of the water has disappeared into a wide variety of pipes, pumps (irrigation) and fields to support the ever growing demands of the human population in the area.  

19. Rapid Population Growth
Further Problems
Pollution
Septic tank leakage, and soil runoff s containing pesticides and animal wastes, and also oil and gas drilling contribute to the pollution of the rivers.
Rapid Population Growth
Available water cannot sustain the growing population.

20. Solutions… PROBLEM Expensive-uses a great deal of energy.
DESALINATION
Process of removing salt from seawater so the water can be used for drinking.
PROBLEM
Expensive-uses a great deal of energy.
Solutions…
Treated Wastewater
Use of treated, recycled sewage water. Treatment of water varies in countries from once a month to three times a month.
PROBLEM
People fearing contamination and disease, don’t want to buy farm produce watered this way. Would you?

22. Water Wars!
The region’s three main river basins, the Nile, the Jordan, and the Tigris-Euphrates have fifteen nations competing for that water. This competition has led to several conflicts in the region.

23. Water Wars
The River Jordan, for example, has been the cause of several conflicts between Israel and Jordan.
As water becomes scarcer in the Middle East, it is inevitable that countries will take steps to secure water supplies that may be seen by their neighbors as an act of provocation.

25. Further Reading