I just finished reading this Washington Times article dated May 8/15... Where it describes the plight of insufficient water prevail. The rich Arab countries are not doing enough to help the situation. I was amazed to find out that Iran (a country of nearly 77 million people is struggling to conserve water as the major supplier of fresh water 'Lake Urmia' has lost 95% of its water supply, and these smart Iranians are playing 'brinkmanship' trying to be a nuclear power... read on... very interesting. The Middle East Runs out of Water ~by Daniel Pipes The Washington Times May 8, 2015 http://www.meforum.org/5227/middle-east-no-water http://www.meforum.org/5227/middle-east-no-water#print http://www.meforum.org/article_send.php?id=5227 Share: http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://www.meforum.org/5227/middle-east-no-water https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?source=webclient&text=The+Middle+East+Runs+out+of+Water http://www.meforum.org/5227/middle-east-no-water http://www.meforum.org/facebook_lik...p://www.meforum.org/5227/middle-east-no-water Be the first of your friends to like this. A ranking Iranian political figure, Issa Kalantari, recently warned that past mistakes leave Iran with water supplies so insufficient that up to 70 percent, or 55 million out of 78 million Iranians, would be forced to abandon their native country for parts unknown. Many facts buttress Kalantari's apocalyptic prediction: Once lauded in poetry, Lake Urmia, the Middle East's largest lake, has lost 95 percent of its water since 1996, going from 31 billion cubic meters to 1.5 billion. What the Seine is to Paris, the Zayanderud was to Isfahan except the latter went bone-dry in 2010. Over two-thirds of Iran's cities and towns are "on the verge of a water crisis" that could result in drinking water shortages; already, thousands of villages depend on water tankers. Unprecedented dust storms disrupt economic activity and damage health. Nor are Iranians alone in peril; many others in the arid Middle East may also be forced into unwanted, penurious, desperate exile. With a unique, magnificent exception, much of the Middle East is running out of water due to such maladies as population growth, short-sighted dictators, distorted economic incentives, and infrastructure-destroying warfare. Some specifics: With one unique, magnificent exception, much of the Middle East is running out of water. Egypt: Rising sea levels threaten not only to submerge the country's coastal cities (including Alexandria, population 4 million) but also to contaminate the Nile Delta aquifer, one of the world's largest groundwater reservoirs. The Ethiopian government finally woke to the hydraulic potential of the Blue Nile that originates in its country and is building massive dams that may severely reduce the flow of river water reaching Egypt (and Sudan). Gaza: In what's called a "hydrological nightmare," seawater intrusion and the leakage of sewage has made 95 percent of the coastal aquifer unfit for human consumption. Yemen: Oil remittances permit Yemenis to indulge more heavily than ever before in chewing qat, a leaf whose bushes absorb far more water than the food plants they replaced. Drinking water "is down to less than one quart per person per day" in many mountainous areas, reports water specialist Gerhard Lichtenthaeler. Specialist Ilan Wulfsohn writes that Sana'a "may become the first capital city in the world to run out of water." Syria: The Syrian government wasted $15 billion on failed irrigation projects in 1988-2000. Between 2002 and 2008, nearly all the 420,000 illegal wells went dry, total water resources dropped by half, as did grain output, causing 250,000 farmers to abandon their land. By 2009, water problems had cost more than 800,000 jobs. By 2010, in the hinterland of Raqqa, now the Islamic State's capital, the New York Times reports, "Ancient irrigation systems have collapsed, underground water sources have run dry and hundreds of villages have been abandoned as farmlands turn to cracked desert and grazing animals die off." Iraq: Experts foresee the Euphrates River's waters soon halved (refer to Revelations 16:22 for those implications). Already in 2011, the Mosul Dam, Iraq's largest, shut down entirely due to insufficient flow. Sea water from the Persian Gulf has pushed up the Shatt al-Arab; the resulting briny water has destroyed fisheries, livestock, and crops. In northern Iraq, water shortages have led to the abandonment of villages, some now buried in sand, and a 95 percent decrease in barley and wheat farming. Date palms have diminished from 33 million to 9 million. Saddam Hussein drained the marshes of southern Iraq, at once destroying a wildlife ecology and depriving the Marsh Arabs of their livelihood. Thanks to conservation, innovative agricultural techniques, and high-tech desalination, Israel is awash in H2O. Persian Gulf: Vast desalination efforts, ironically, have increased the salinity level of gulf sea water from 32,000 to 47,000 parts per million, threatening fauna and marine life. Nearby Pakistan may be "a water-starved country" by 2022. Israel provides the sole exception to this regional tale of woe. It too, as recently as the 1990s, suffered water shortages; but now, thanks to a combination of conservation, recycling, innovative agricultural techniques, and high-tech desalination, the country is awash in H2O (Israel's Water Authority: "We have all the water we need"). I find particularly striking that Israel can desalinate about 17 liters of water for one U.S. penny; and that it recycles about five times more water than does second-ranked Spain. In other words, the looming drought-driven upheaval of populations probably the very worst of the region's many profound problems can be solved, with brainpower and political maturity. Desperate neighbors might think about ending their futile state of war with the world's hydraulic superpower and instead learn from it. Daniel Pipes (DanielPipes.org, [MENTION=4046]Dan[/MENTION]ielPipes) is president of the Middle East Forum.
Daniel Pipes did a lousy job with his research.. Gaza's aquifer has back filled with salt water since 1967 because all the water goes to Israel. The Persian Gulf has NOT increased in salinity.. Its noteworthy that Pipes ignores the destruction of the Jordan Basin hydrology which was predicted in 1952.
Pipes is the most prominent <investigation reporter>... As for Israel, you must have missed that profound information re <WATER>, here goes... [Israel provides the sole exception to this regional tale of woe. It too, as recently as the 1990s, suffered water shortages; but now, thanks to a combination of conservation, recycling, innovative agricultural techniques, and high-tech desalination, the country is awash in H2O (Israel's Water Authority: "We have all the water we need"). I find particularly striking that Israel can desalinate about 17 liters of water for one U.S. penny; and that it recycles about five times more water than does second-ranked Spain.] I wish your friends in the Arab countries <emulate> Israel instead of wine, women and songs.
Most of Israel's water is just reverse osmosis which doesn't get rid of ecoli or heavy metals... Why haven't they built recharge dams to capture ground water and refill the aquifers which they have grossly overpumped?
Playing Crazy Iranian advocate here: Desalination plants can solve the water issue but they need abundant and cheap energy to be worthwhile, hence the need for nuke plants.
I notice you are looking for a job, I suggest you apply to the Israeli Department of water... Good luck... I am sure they will take your suggestions in consideration.
The Mullahs won't use nuke plants to benefit Iranians. They have lots of dirt cheap natural gas, yet many parts of the country don't have basic electricity, something they could do ceaply.
this is all impossible, because Israel doesn't exist. It can't possibly be stealing anything. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/palmatoc1.html
'Palestinians' in Gaza and West Bank refuse to participate in any regional water conservation initiatives, and continually over-pump their wells; their problems are, as always, self-inflicted. Israel and Jordan continue to abide by the various Annexes of the Oslo Accords re various water projects and distribution.
Cheap electricity is one of the by-products of nuclear desalination.. Do the Israelis do anything like that with Dimona? - - - Updated - - - Israel has complete control over the aquifers in the West Bank and Gaza.. The Palestinians are not allowed to dig wells.. They can't get permits.
Read the study of the Hydrology of the Jordan Basin.. The Israeli have completely destroyed the water table since 1967 and that was predicted.. Why do you supposed the Dead Sea is shrinking and the Jordan River is a cess pool??
You don't have to guess... It was the Jews and their absolutely mismanagement of water assets.. Study after study had been published since 1952 starting with the Laudermilk Plan and the Johnston Plan.. I know that you meant to be cute and quippy... but the reality is you just look dumb and uninformed.
so far all your posts have been lies.. this one included.. didnt you just tell me Israel deoes not send aid after a disaster.........whos buyin?
Israel generally sends a small disaster team to take care of Jews only... much like they did after Katrina or the Tsunami in Indonesia.. They do NOT airlift in millions of dollars in tents, food, cook stoves, blankets, and medication like the Arabs or the US or the Europeans... and that's easy enough to check if you are actually interested in the facts. They went to Nepal to rescue Jewish babies who were carried by Indian surrogates for Jewish homosexual men.. About 100 all toll.. Its big business in Nepal.
There is no Israel, so it can't be Israelis controlling anything. I posted the maps your faux 'palestinians' make themselves. Are you claiming 'palestinians' don't know their own regional geography?
Nothing of the above is real/correct... Israel does not mismanage, they create, they do envisage and better situations, their water supply today is superior than the one the 22 Arab countries rely on... my dear you have made a name for yourself, you hate/envy Israel!!! And this is exactly what motivates your input on this forum.
Read the Laudermilk plan or the Johnston plan... Why do you think Jordan's canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea is so important?? It will generate clean water, hydroelectric electrical power and restore the water table that is destroying the aquifers.
Palestinians are not granted permits to dig wells. The aquifers are over pumped by Israel for Jewish settlements.. .. many of which to not have water treatment plants so raw sewage is just pumped downhill onto Palestinian villages. That's why pollutants like heavy metals and ecoli are measured in parts per thousand .. the drinking water has high salinity and kidney disease is such a problem. Forget propaganda.. and look at the science..
IMO with what is going on in the Middle East right now this information would have gone over quite profitably in Current Events, where more might have noticed it sooner. I had been wondering if water issues might be a destabilizing political factor over there.
Historically Israel's water ministers lasted about 6 months and were not engineers.. Israelis have mismanaged water assets for 60 years.. Read the Johnston Plan or the Laudermilk Plan circa 1952.
The World Bank will use the Jewish state’s expertise in water conservation and technology in developing countries. http://unitedwithisrael.org/world-bank-to-use-israels-water-expertise-in-developing-nations/ The World Bank and Israel have signed a deal through which the international organization will use the Jewish state’s expertise in water conservation and technology in developing countries. “Israel has suffered from a chronic water shortage for years. The need for water led Israel to create innovative and advance policies and solutions that have placed us as a water world leader. We wish to share our experience with the developing world,” Israeli Economy Minister Aryeh Deri said in a statement. According to the agreement, study tours will be held in Israel over the next two years by officials from developing countries to learn about Israel’s efforts in water conservation and technology. The agreement will also include a study of Israel’s experience in managing water and the transferring of global expertise on water security. “Israel has had to manage water services while operating under extreme scarcity conditions, and has done so very impressively,” said the director for water at the World Bank, Jennifer Sara. “Its innovative practices are globally recognized—both from technological and institutional perspectives—and will undoubtedly carry lessons for many of the World Bank Group’s clients facing water security challenges.” After years of drought, Israel has seen an end to water shortages due to new methods of conservation, water recycling, and massive new desalination plants such as the Sorek plant, located south of Tel Aviv and said to be the world’s largest facility of its kind. It produces 40 billion gallons of water per year. By: JNS.org
