A.
THE QUEST FOR WATER FROM BIBLICAL TIMES TO THE PRESENT
wenty-five nations are now experiencing chronic water shortages, and that number will rise steadily to 90 as we move into the 21st century. By then, half of the world population will be affected: more than 5 billion will suffer from malnutrition, famine, and disease. Today, c o n t a m i n a t e d waters cause almost 80% of the illnesses that ravage Third World countries. As many as 35,000 children die every day from thirst or water contamination, and 40% of the African continent will be at risk of water-related disease and death by the turn of the century. What most people fail to grasp is that the amount of available water on our planet hasn't increased since the beginning of time. Of all the water present on the Earth's surface, only 2% is fresh water. Of this 2%, 87% is embedded in ice caps and glaciers, buried deep underground, or contained in the atmosphere. Moreover, endemic water scarcity typically is compounded by accelerating pollution. The United States spent more than $600 billion between 1972 and 1989 in an attempt to clean u p polluted aquifers under major cities. In the Middle East and Africa, where investment in aquifer cleanup is not a priority, burgeoning cities sit on lakes of sewage that will flow into the streets if global warming pushes temperatures past a certain point. Reports, books, and articles tend to portray the endemic conflict over water as a force of nature, or the result of bad luck in resource alloca-
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J O Y C E R. STARR The Global Policy Group Washington, DC 20008 1264 Environ. Sci. Technol., VoI. 27, No. 7, 1993
Jordan River near the settlement of Beth-Shean 0013-936X/9310927-1264$04.0010@ 1993 American Chemical Society
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tions or the political whims of anonymous governmental bureaucracies. Individual policy makers and their decisions are neatly divorced from the crisis. When personal accountability is denied as a factor in the strategic drama over water, the stage is set for inaction. In Jordan, for example, chemical seepage from a poorly constructed treatment facility l e d to ruination of 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 farms, including those owned by Crown Prince Hassan and the minister of water, Samir Kawar. “The politician who chose this system is a criminal,” the minister declared in conversation with the author. “I told the king that this man should be tried in the courts for sabotage and treason.”
Water in ancient history In ancient times, the Nile River served as a metaphor for world order for cultures in the region. Ancient Mesopotamians distinguished between t h e Tiamat, t h e great mother of the salt waters of chaos and creation, and Aspu, the lord who ruled the “sweet waters” underground that filled the rivers and streams. They believed that there were two rivers called the Nile: One flowed on Earth, and the other flowed across the sky in heaven. The Nile is often depicted as the male god H a p i , w i t h t w o full breasts, representing the northern and southern Nile. The personification of rivers and their identification with spirits were also prominent i n ancient Syria, where the gods had seats on the banks of streams and springs. The Syrian rivers were famous for healing. So it was that Naaman, the commander of the King of Syria’s a r m y , received word from t h e prophet Elisha that he should bathe in the River Jordan seven times to be cleansed of his leprosy (2 Kings 5). The basic principles of early Jewish law are contained in the Bible and Talmudic texts. The Talmud, a code of law based on the Bible, was written between t h e t h i r d a n d fourth centuries A.D. In it public wells and the right for every traveler to use them are recognized. In Genesis 26, the relationship between water and ultimate security in the promised land is depicted: As Isaac’s slaves were digging in the valley, they came upon a well of running water; when the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “This water belongs to us,” he called that well Esek (quarrel) because they had
Moslem law establishes a close relation between groundwater and land use through the concept of harem or “forbidden area”; to prevent new wells from depleting the aquifer, Moslems have adopted the principle that the ownership of wells entails ownership of a certain amount of adjacent land. Such fundamentals of Moslem water law have led to a culture that respects these customs even during the most anarchistic periods in arid zones. In the desert, water constitutes the main object of real property. Yet, because there is no record in Islamic history of any international water dispute prior to this century, Moslem law has little or no provision concerning such disputes. Non-Moslem countries are regarded as the abode of war (daral-harb). However, where water is concerned, Islamic law speaks of man and mankind, not of Moslems. Water rights, in theory, extend to all human beings.
quarreled with him. Another well was dug, and over that they quarreled too; so he called it Sitnah (feud). Changing his quarters, he dug another well; they did not quarrel over that, so he called it Rehoboth (room).“Surely,” he said, “the Eternal has made room for us now, so that we can prosper in his land.” It is virtually impossible to understand the fierce stubbornness over water sharing among tribes and nations unless we comprehend the ancient echoes driving this tenacity. Most people in the cradle of civilization believe that water comes from God. The Koran, for example, explicitly states that water is the most precious and valuable re-
The amount of available water on ourplanet hasn’t increased since the beginning of time. source of the physical environment, indeed, that ‘‘. , . we made from water everything.” The Bible talks about four rivers in the Garden of Eden, and defines Canaan as a land of rain. Moses is allowed by God to reach the banks of the Jordan River, but not to cross this water bridge to the destiny of the Jewish people.
Moslem precepts Moslem and Talmudic law share many precepts. It may come as a surprise, however, to learn that Islamic codes deal specifically with groundwater issues. According to Moslem water law, groundwater is considered to be a public good and cannot be individually appropriated. Wells belong either to an entire tribe or to the individual whose ancestors dug it. Appropriation of a well does not give ownership rights to the water itself; it only gives exclusive or priority rights of use. According to Moslem tradition, no owner of a well can abuse the water. The use of groundwater is subject to a strict order of priority. Watering stock animals in a desert area is high in the order.
Moving to the present Millennia ago, those who governed understood their spiritual connection to the water. But this sense of awe and responsibility has been lost. Decision makers today tend to demand definite proof that water is in jeopardy, stealing time until their countries reach a point of no return. As an excuse for action, officials motorically devise and redevise a litany of management and technological solutions, at great expense and with little consequence. The past several years have been the Middle East’s driest in half a century. Given that approximately 65% of available water in the Middle East and Africa is used for agriculture, the prospect of vanishing waters is a vision of hunger and even starvation. The Arab Middle East, alone, already imports approximately $100 billion a year in food. In an average year, for example, the Euphrates River’s capacity is estimated by t h e World Bank at 31,820 million cubic meters, a quantity that can satisfy the demands of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. However, in 1989 the discharge fell to almost half that amount, causing serious water shortages in all three countries. The drought depressed Turkey’s economy, but Syria’s situation is even worse. The low level of the Euphrates, combined with pollution from Syrian pesticides, chemicals, and salt, forced the government to cut back on the supply of drinking
Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 27, No. 7, 1993 1265
water and electricity to Damascus, Aleppo, and other cities. Damascus is without water most nights and is estimated to lose as much as 30% of its water through leaks in old pipes. Unlike Syria, Iraq is fortunate in having access to the less exploited Tigris River. Prior to the Gulf War, the Iraqi government was planning to invest more than 5300 million in more than 20 flood control, hydroelectric, water storage, and irrigation projects on the Tigris, its tributaries, and Lake Tharthar. A major scheme was devised to divert water from the Tigris into Lake Tharthar and then into the Euphrates if the water in the Euphrates was not sufficient to irrigate Iraqi croplands. However, given the geopolitical situation and the international embargo, Iraq’s ability to sustain its agricultural sector in the near and even long term is diminishing by the month. Meanwhile, a decade of drought in eastern Africa has depleted the Nile’s waters, literally Egypt’s lifeline. The river provides 86% of the 158 billion gallons of water used in Egypt each year. During the summer of 1988, the Nile dropped to its lowest point in a century, forcing Egyptian authorities to turn to Lake Nasser’s reserves to relieve the desperate water situation. The crisis underscored the economic life-or-death implications of a continuing decline in Nile waters for Egypt. Tourism revenues will he threatened, as hotels are unable to obtain water for drinking and sanitary services. Leisure vessels will not be able to navigate the river. Oil export revenues could dry u p as petrol is diverted to generate the 28% of the country’s power normally supplied by the Nile. Egypt’s crop production could be crippled almost all of its farming depends on Nile flood irrigation. The country already imports approximately 50% of its food, and an increase in imports would further burden its strained economy. Relaxing state subsidies on food prices is h a r d l y a politically attractive choice, given the food riots President Muharak faced when he tried to comply with International Monetary Fund austerity measures. Yet, as regional supplies are falling, Egypt‘s water needs are increasing at an alarming rate because of the country’s astonishing population growth, projected at 75 million by the year 2000. The last nation the Nile flows past, Egypt has little control over the actions of the eight up1288 Envimn. Sci. Technol.. VoI. 27. No. 7. 1993
stream governments. U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. former minister of state for foreign affairs of Egypt, maintains that the “national security of Egypt i s . . . a question of water.” Here and now In September 1989, Boutros-Ghali sounded the alarm about water to members of Congress. His eloquent but dismal projection of the availability of water in Egypt’s future bears repeating. He forecasted that if present circumstances continue, Egypt and the Sudan will experience a severe water deficit by the year 2010; both countries require 5 billion cubic meters per year. Egypt
Water security will soon rank with military
security.. . has almost no rain-ahout three inches a year-and only 50% of Sudan’s agriculture is irrigated by rainfall. The other riparian countries of Lake Victoria-Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and, to a certain extent, Rwanda-will require a similar amount of water, meaning at least 10 billion cubic meters per year in the next two decades. “What is worse is that each Nile country expects different benefits from the control and management of water resources,” Boutros-Ghali stated. “The other African countries have not reached the level of agriculture through irrigation that we have, and therefore are not as interested in the problem of water scarcity. It is the classic difference in attitudes found among upstream and downstream countries, which share the same international river.” A fighting issue “The only matter that could take Egypt to war again is water.” declared President Anwar Sadat in the spring of 1979, only days after signing the historic peace treaty with Israel. His unveiled threat was directed not at Israel, hut at Ethiopia, which is upstream from Egypt and
controls 85% of the headwaters of the Blue Nile. In May 1990 Jordan’s King Hussein issued a similar warning to Israel on Jordanian television: “The only issue that will bring Jordan into war again is water.” Every nation in the Middle East is linked to another by a common aquifer subject to overwithdrawal and contamination. As early as the mid198Os, U S . government intelligence services estimated that there were at least 10 places where war could break out over dwindling shared water resources-the majority in the Middle East. Jordan, Israel, Cyprus, and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula are sliding into perilous times when all available fresh surface water and groundwater supplies will be fuIly utilized. Israeli state comptroller Miriam Ben-Porat confirmed in a report issued in late 1991 that “in practical terms, Israel has no water reserves in its reservoirs.” Blaming the Ministry of Agriculture for allocating too much water to farmers and ignoring warnings of shortages, BenPorat concluded that “Today, there is a real danger that it will be impossible to provide water in enough quantity and quality even in, the short term.” We also know that by 2010, Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank and Gaza will have sufficient water only for drinking and industrial purposes, unless dramatic steps are taken now. In other words, there will he no water for agriculture, the desert will cease to bloom, and it will be too late to turn hack the clock. Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt face similar prospects i n 10-20 years. Although Morocco’s achievements in water use and sanitation are unparalleled in Africa,
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Joyce R. Starr is founder and chairperson of the Global Water Summit Initiative, a nonprofit organization focusing on resource diplomacy. She served in the Carter White House, was a direcior of a commission on the reconstructlon of Lebanon under President Reagnn, and advised the Clinton presidential campaign. She is currently writing a book on water caretakers.
the country confronts the prospect of a declining water supply beyond 2000,when its current population of 24 million is projected to reach 31 million.
The lack of water prevails Water security will soon rank with military security in the war rooms of defense ministries. Strategic coordination of Saudi Arabia’s water supplies, in particular, is crucial for its defense. Sixty percent of the world’s desalination capacity is in the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia’s desalinated water, alone, exceeds 30% of the global production, and Kuwait and all of the other Gulf states are almost totally dependent on desalination plants for their fresh water supply. According to Edward Badolato, former deputy assistant secretary for energy emergencies in the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. government “is doing nothing” to anticipate sabotage of pumping stations, treatment plants, pipelines, or dams in the Middle East. Said Badolato, “We haven’t focused on the water problem. We’re barely capable of focusing on oil.” At press time, the Middle East peace process is well into its second year, and planned multilateral discussions on water-along with arms control, economic cooperation, refugee resettlement, and the environment-are in progress. Should these discussions become mired in political diatribe, the underlying tensions among water-starved regional states could accelerate. The U.S. government lacks an overall plan for Middle East water security, short of thumbnail sketch ideas for a massive nuclear desalination unit that would be based in Israel and paid for by the Japanese. Reliance on desalination, however, carries strategic risks in a region where the likelihood of water warfare and resource terrorism is increasing. During the Gulf War, Saudi Arabia discovered the danger of having its entire water security linked to desalination when Iraq aimed its missiles at those plants. The depth to which the vested interests of regional players reside in the status quo was eloquently stated by one Middle Eastern ambassador: “We know that water is an issue of life and death for our country. But if it is a choice between defending ourselves against our enemies, or turning our attention to this matter, we will choose to accept death for our people.”
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