ABU DHABI, 21 March 2004 — The Middle East and North Africa are among the most arid regions in the world, with five percent of the world’s population but only one percent of global annual renewable water resources.
The limited resources are being reduced further by population growth, human waste, industrial and agricultural pollutants.
Tomorrow’s water day concentrates the minds of the people in the Arab world on the dire consequences of continued wasteful use of water and on feasible strategies to avert a crisis.
The availability and quality of fresh water are directly related to economic progress, human health, food production and nutrition, and political stability. Yet, we continue to waste it.
About 90 percent of water that flows into Arab lands originates from non-Arab countries. Large Arab countries such as Iraq, Syria and Egypt, for example, are located downstream in their respective river systems — the Euphrates and the Nile.
Globally, we have 263 international river systems, compared with only 214 in 1978. This inter-dependency means we need to learn to share.
In the Arab world and much of the world, the largest consumer of water is by far the farming sector. It takes around 1,000 tons of water to grow a ton of wheat and 2,000 tons to produce a ton of rice.
In Syria, the agricultural sector uses 80 to 90 percent of water resources. Hence even relatively small improvements in irrigation efficiency will yield substantial water savings that could be re-directed to the domestic and industrial sectors.
Human water needs in the Arab world have for decades been handled by damming more rivers, taping more aquifers, and building more desalination plants. That must change. We must find ways to make efficient use of available supplies.
Making the most of what you already have — for example through the adoption of efficient irrigation technologies that would allow farmers to produce “more crop per drop” — is known as demand management.
In Syria, experts estimate that if sprinkler systems were introduced to wheat irrigation, the yield will increase by 23 percent while water use will be reduced by 43 percent or the equivalent of 6,100 million cubic meters annually. In other words, everyone wins.
Conservation of fresh water can be achieved, for instance, through economic disincentives. Governments can increase tariffs to encourage saving, exempting only low-income earners.
In Saudi Arabia, wheat output was reduced from four million tons in the early 1980s to about 1.3 million in 2002. All the government had to do to achieve this massive reduction was stop most of its wheat subsidy.
But with such honorable exceptions, governments throughout the Middle East and North Africa continue to subsidize water consumption.
The wealthier the country, the higher the subsidy. In 2003, the emirate of Kuwait spent around $800 million in water subsidies.
Public awareness campaigns can entrench water conservation for decades to come.
UNESCO’s director general has appointed Prince Talal, the director of AGFUND, his special envoy on water.
This position has been instrumental in raising awareness on critical freshwater issues at many levels, including high-level decision makers, and in encouraging countries to develop appropriate institutions, adopt suitable policies and legislation for sustainable management of water resources.
The Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) has just launched an information campaign aimed at encouraging water savings and pollution reduction.
It wants to educate people and advise businesses to become more responsible and prudent consumers of water and electricity. The campaign targets the hearts and minds of consumers, not their bank accounts.
UNESCO’s director general has said people should adopt, and commit to, a new water culture, “one that combines caring, sparing and sharing”.
For Muslims, protection and conservation of resources would not even require a new water culture; it would simply take an awakening to the long-established Islamic water ethic.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said water should be used sparingly even if abundant, and that animals have water rights too.
A lesson from the Prophet’s sayings is that humans should be mindful of the water needs of other potential users. This is consistent with the notion of sustainable development.
To achieve this, carefully structured public awareness campaigns should appeal to the morality and religious values of Muslim consumers.
Practicing Muslims are likely to be swayed by religious arguments that invoke divine rewards and penalties.
By working with, not against, nature, planners are more likely to achieve a sustainable water program. Making the desert green should rely on planting vegetation that tolerates drought conditions and brackish water rather than the profligate use of a scarce resource.
— Dr. Hussein A. Amery is a professor of hydro-politics and geography at the Colorado School of Mines.
