Water Imbalance Poses Threat
(Signs of the Time - April 1999)
A nation with 1% of the world’s people controls 70% of the world’s supply of fresh water -- Canada. It may be difficult for Canada and the United States to realize the situation, but there is an enormous imbalance in access to earth’s supply of fresh water. This month’s article will consider this imbalance, with particular emphasis on Israel, Syria and Jordan.
The imbalance
Water resources are primarily derived from three sources: precipitation, aquifers and
fresh water lakes. As one may appreciate, the Great Lakes states and provinces have an
abundance of water as measured by all three factors. The state of Michigan and the
province of Ontario average about 32 inches (900mm) of rainfall per annum. As well, the
great lakes contain some 40% of the world’s fresh water supply. In comparison,
Phoenix, Arizona receives approximately one quarter the rainfall that Michigan and Ontario
receive and Arizona has an extremely limited fresh water supply from the two other primary
sources. As one might expect, water is frequently rationed in Arizona as 4,000,000 people
(which population grows mightily each year - see appeal from Glendale, Arizona Ecclesia)
try to make do on a limited water supply in a semi-arid climate.
The Syria-Israel-Jordan area, while similar to Arizona in size, climate and water supply, must also deal with the complexities of international boundaries, warring nations, a population some three times as large as Arizona and political uncertainties which always plague this part of the world.
On March 3, 1999, the United States Academy of Science released a 225-page report on the Middle East water situation. The report indicated that: "Even with strict management the area’s inhabitants will almost assuredly live under conditions of significant water stress in the near future."
Regarding the Middle East situation, the New York Times reported March 4, 1999: "It is hardly news here that water is getting ever scarcer and the population steadily larger. Yet by drawing on data from disparate sources within and outside the region, the study (of the U.S. Academy of Science) provides what its authors believe is the first comprehensive analysis of regional patterns of water demands and supplies, while at the same time detailing feasible methods of conserving water and reducing consumption.
"The water shortage is chronic and the solution is extremely complicated. The report indicated that: ‘Ancient underground aquifers are being drained dry, while scarce rain water flows unused into desert gulches, and rivers are diverted for water-intensive tropical agriculture.’"
One of the major difficulties in establishing a solution is the fact watersheds cross political boundaries and can only be managed jointly. This situation, combined with the population growth rate of the area, create a potential powder keg over something as benign, yet essential, as water.
What to do?
The report makes several key recommendations, one of which states: "In 40
years, all fresh water in the region should be reserved for household use, with treated
waste water and desalinated water used to supply agriculture and industry."
Although easy to make, this recommendation is extremely difficult to implement. In order to accommodate this single recommendation it would be necessary to literally re-plumb the entire area. The costs involved with the replumbing are prohibitive, especially when one considers that the average income for a Syrian is one-tenth that of an Arizonian.
Conservation of precious water resources is another potential solution. As the largest and by far the most prosperous of the three, Israel accounts for most of the consumption, the study confirmed. At 344 cubic meters, its per capita water use in 1994 was almost four times that of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip at 93 cubic meters per person. Palestinian officials and Israeli environmentalists often point critically to this disparity and to California-style watered lawns and capacious bathtubs they consider irresponsibly profligate. Yet the study showed Israel’s use is only marginally greater than Jordan’s which, although poorer than the West Bank, consumed 244 cubic meters per person.
The greatest single users of the water resources are not individuals or industries, but farms, and the farm usage is out of proportion to their share of the economy. In Israel, agriculture accounts for 3% of the gross domestic product and 57% of water consumption. The Jordanian agricultural sector contributes 6% of the GDP, but uses 72% of the water. In the less developed West Bank and Gaza Strip, agriculture absorbs about the same share of water, 64%, yet accounts for fully a third of the local economy.
Therefore, if conservation is mandated, it will become increasingly difficult to feed the growing nations, let alone water them.
The third and final recommendation of the report called for the construction of a desalting plant that could supply Gaza and Israeli coastal communities. But the study noted desalting sea water was extremely expensive -- $1 or more for a cubic meter of potable water -- and would not usually be considered feasible in a region without cheap and abundant fuel supplies.
The only solution
It seems like a winless situation for the Middle East. After five years of studying
the problem, the so-called experts make recommendations which can only be implemented at a
steep price. There is a time coming when, "it shall come to pass that every thing
that liveth, which moveth, withersoever the rivers shall come, shall live..." (Ezk.
47:9 and note entire chapter). When Christ returns, a miraculous and abundant supply of
water will flow from the site of the temple at Jerusalem which will be a source of healing
for all nations.
George Rayner