Read at : Google Alert – desertification

http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=25057

Source : Middle East Institute

http://www.humansecuritygateway.info/documents/MEI_waterandconflictint
hemiddleeast.pd

Water and Conflict in the Middle East

Discussions of transboundary water issues in regions of the developing world other than the Middle East have tended to focus on development potential and poverty reduction. However, with respect to the Middle East, much of the media coverage and a sizable portion of scholarly writing have been devoted to “water conflicts.” Given the current amount of water available per capita, the high rate of population growth, and the high levels of interstate tension and conflict in the region, images of “water wars” do not seem far-fetched. The water situation and water relations in the Middle East are framed by several undisputed and inescapable basic facts. The first is that the Middle East is a very water-scarce region. According to the 2008 Stockholm Water Prize winner, Tony Allan, the Middle East basically “ran out of water” in the 1970s and today largely depends on water from outside the region being traded into the region, primarily in the form of its food imports. Nevertheless, about 87% of the region’s freshwater is allocated to agriculture.

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http://www.transboundarywaters.orst.edu