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Water stress is accelerating due to increasing demand for water from an ever growing Arab population, and climate change is compounding the problem. The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) set a target to reduce by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015. “The Arab Human Development report 2009, presents compelling evidence that the burgeoning water scarcity problem in the Arab region presents a serious threat to Human security. Under the umbrella of the League of Arab States (LAS) and in partnership with the Arab Ministerial Water Council (AMWC) and the Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI), the Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA) is organizing the first Arab Water Week.  The Arab Water Week (AWW) is the first regional meeting in the Arab region which will tackle water management issues through establishing innovative partnerships and platforms of collaborative work on water issue in the region.  The importanc

NEW DELHI: The country’s attention may be focused on an ever-increasing energy needs, but water is a much bigger issue, says a key policymaker in the government. “Water crisis is a more serious issue than energy crisis,” said Montek Singh Ahluwalia , deputy chairman of Planning commission, at the World Economic Forum on Sunday. Speaking at a session on ‘How will India avert a Water Crisis?’ Mr Ahluwalia said that that the government was seized of the problem and was in the process of reviewing its water policy. He added that some of its key elements could be incorporated in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17). The annual extraction of groundwater in India is by far the highest in the world and the unsustainable over-extraction has lowered the water table to dangerous levels, mid-term appraisal of the Eleventh five year plan had said. Multilateral agencies such as the World Bank have flagged

The Jordan River basin is shared by 5 different countries: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Israel. As a resource for freshwater it is vital for most of the population of Palestine, Israel and Jordan, and in a lesser extend for Lebanon and Syria. Sharing this resource involves the issue of water use, water rights, and (re)distribution of amounts. Since water is a scarce resource to every country in the region, access to enough water to meet the demands of households and economic sectors is a main concern for all governments involved. The demand for water is rising, due to population growth and economic development. Pressure on the natural resources is high, and Israel, Jordan and Palestine are already facing a situation where water consumption is close to or exeeding the renewable amount available. Next to the natural resources, alternatives are limited: water saving measures, water recycling or desalination work on the sort term, but seem to fail to fill the expected

    World Ocean Review published. Read more... English Version available soon The interview (German only) Listen...

Glaciers of large mountain regions contribute, to some extent considerably, to the water supply of certain populated areas. However, in a recent study conducted by Innsbruck glaciologists and climatologists it has been shown that there are important regional differences. The results of the study are published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ( PNAS ). In their recently published study the glaciologists and climatologists, headed by Prof. Georg Kaser and Dr. Ben Marzeion from the Institute of Geography of the University of Innsbruck, have demonstrated that the contribution potential of glaciers to the water supply of populated areas varies regionally. The scientists gathered data on the amount of precipitation on certain glaciers and calculated when the water is discharged and available in populated areas. "There is a big difference in whether the water is discharged in an arid period or in a period, when there usually is

The Arab world, one of the driest regions on the planet, will tip into severe water scarcity as early as 2015, a report issued on Thursday predicts.  By then, Arabs will have to survive on less than 500 cubic metres of water a year each, or below a tenth of the world average of more than 6,000 cubic metres per capita, said the report by the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED). “The Arab world is already living a water crisis that will only get worse with inaction,” the report says, adding per capita supply has plunged to only a quarter of its 1960 level. Rapid population growth will further stress water resources. According to U.N. projections, the Arabs, who now number almost 360 million, will multiply to nearly 600 million by 2050. Climate change will aggravate matters. By the end of this century, Arab countries may experience a 25 percent drop in precipitation and a 25 percent increase in evaporation rates, according to climate change models cited in the report. Read m

The Arab world, one of the driest regions on the planet, will tip into severe water scarcity as early as 2015, a report issued on Thursday predicts.  By then, Arabs will have to survive on less than 500 cubic metres of water a year each, or below a tenth of the world average of more than 6,000 cubic metres per capita, said the report by the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED). “The Arab world is already living a water crisis that will only get worse with inaction,” the report says, adding per capita supply has plunged to only a quarter of its 1960 level. Rapid population growth will further stress water resources. According to U.N. projections, the Arabs, who now number almost 360 million, will multiply to nearly 600 million by 2050. Climate change will aggravate matters. By the end of this century, Arab countries may experience a 25 percent drop in precipitation and a 25 percent increase in evaporation rates, according to climate change models cited in the report. Read m

Mr. Salaheddine Mezouar, Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance, M. Ali Fassi-Fihri, General Director of ONEP (Moroccan Water Supply Board) and Mrs Françoise Clottes, World Bank’s Acting Country Director for the Maghreb countries signed , in Rabat, in the presence of the concerned parties’ representatives, the agreements for two IBRD loans for a cumulative amount of $218 million equivalent to improve access to water supply and expand wastewater systems in Morocco. The objective of the Regional Potable Water Supply Systems project (1,740 million MAD supported by a US$175 million equivalent IBRD Loan) is to increase access to potable water supply for selected local communities in the provinces of Nador, Driouch, Safi, Youssoufia, Sidi Bennour and Errachidia. The project will finance significant infrastructure investments in water supply production, transmission and distribution systems to meet the growing needs of urban and rural populations in the six targeted provinces.

Recent surveys prove that sustainable water supply in various Asian regions already today pose a tremendous problem. Various approaches might be considered to tackle this problem, but so far apparently the problem couldn't be solved. In an interview Mr. Arjun Thapan, a special adviser for infrastructure and water with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) pointed out some of the key aspects associated with sustainable water supply in the Asian region: " Crisis is already here in Asia and by 2030, water demand in the region will exceed supply by 40 percent unless countries improve the treatment and management of fresh water supply and wastewater, Thapan said in a phone interview." The Bank therefore is about to issue another Water Bond. Read more...