Is Water The Next Resource To Cause War?

I took my son to the movies the other day. We watched “Rango” the story of a lizard that takes on the greedy mayor of a small western town. The mayor is in control of the water. In this movie, water was the currency and the way wealth was measured. The quote of the movie was “he who controls the water, controls the world.”

In general we can live without oil. Yes life would suck, however people can live without oil. If you do not have water you will die in 3-7 days depending on your health. Water this is a resource that is truly life and death. So if you think about the contamination of the world’s potable water, it is a resource that is diminishing.

People have gone to war over water in the past. We will see it again.  Look at the following fun facts.

Israel’s population is projected to grow from 4.7 millions in 1990 to about 8 million in 2025. By that time Palestinians in the west bank – because of their higher birth rate, are likely to reach just under seven millions- the two peoples are to share the same water resources which they both now say are not enough.

Jordan’s population more than doubled from 1.5 millions in 1955 to 4 millions in 1990 and is projected to double again before 2010. Their annual per capita water availability in 1990 was 327 cubic meters some 673 below the bottom line of crisis.

Iran for example had 2,025 cubic meter per capita in 1990, the figure projected for 2025 is between 776 and 860 cubic meter.

Libya’s population of 4.5 million in 1990 is projected to increase to 12.9 million in 2025 and the oil revenues enabled the government to increase dependency on desalination, but they diverted – or rather wasted massive resources on a white elephant, the great man made river to mine fossil water in the south.

Egypt’s 58 Million in 1990 are projected to reach 101 Millions in 2025 and already approaching water scarcity: its per capita availability is 1,017

The Middle East is also a region where figures of water withdrawal as percentage of renewable water supplies are among the highest in the world, while the renewal rate is rather slow because of the arid nature of the land.