World Water Reference
OECD countries
- With nearly
2,000 cubic metres (70,000 ft3) of water per person and per year, the
United States leads the world in water consumption per capita.
- In the
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
countries, the U.S. is first for water consumption, then Canada with
1,600 cubic meters (56,000 ft3) of water per person per year, which is
about twice the amount of water used by the average person from France,
three times as much as the average German, and almost eight times as
much as the average Dane.
- Since 1980,
overall water use in Canada has increased by 25.7%. This is five times
higher than the overall OECD increase of 4.5%.
- In
contrast, nine OECD nations were able to decrease their overall water
use since 1980 (Sweden, the Netherlands, the United States, the United
Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Poland, Finland and Denmark).
United States
- Ninety-five
percent of the United States' fresh water is underground. One crucial
source is a huge underground reservoir, the 1,300-kilometer (800 mi)
Ogallala aquifer which stretches from Texas to South Dakota and waters
one fifth of U.S. irrigated land. Formed over millions of years, the
Ogallala aquifer has since been cut off from its original natural
sources. It is being depleted at a rate of 12 billion cubic meters (420
billion ft3) per year, amounting to a total depletion to date of a
volume equal to the annual flow of 18 Colorado Rivers. Some estimates
say it will dry up in as little as 25 years.
- Many
farmers in the Texas High Plains, which rely particularly on the
underground source, are now turning away from irrigated agriculture as
they become aware of the hazards of overpumping.
Mexico
- In Mexico City, an estimated 40% of the city's water is lost through leaky pipes built at the turn of the 20th century.
Middle East
- The Middle
East region has only 1% of the world's available fresh water, which is
shared among 5% of the world's population. Thus, in this region, water
is an important strategic resource. By 2025, it is predicted that the
countries of the Arabian peninsula will be using more than double the
amount of water naturally available to them. According to a report by
the Arab League, two-thirds of Arab countries have less than 1,000
cubic meters (35,000 ft3) of water per person per year available, which
is considered the limit.
- Jordan, for
example, has little water, and dams in other countries have reduced its
available water over the years. The 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace
stated that Israel would give 50 million cubic meters of water (1.7
billion ft3) per year to Jordan, which it refused to do in 1999 before
backtracking. The 1994 treaty stated that the two countries would
cooperate in order to allow Jordan better access to water resources,
notably through dams on the Yarmouk River. Confronted by this lack of
water, Jordan is preparing new techniques to use non-conventional water
resources, such as second-hand use of irrigation water and
desalinization techniques, which are very costly and are not yet used.
A desalinization project will soon be started in Hisban, south of
Amman. The Disi groundwater project, in the south of Jordan, will cost
at least $250 million to bring out water. Along with the Unity Dam on
the Yarmouk River, it is one of Jordan's largest strategic projects.
Born in 1987, the "Unity Dam" would involve both Jordan and Syria. This
"Unity Dam" still has not been implemented because of Israel's
opposition, Jordan and Syrian conflictive relations and refusal of
world investors. However, Jordan's reconciliation with Syria following
the death of King Hussein represents the removal of one of the
project's greatest obstacles.
- Both Israel and Jordan rely on the Jordan River, but Israel controls it, as well as 90% of the water resources in the region.
- Water is
also an important issue in the conflict with the Palestinians - indeed,
according to former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon quoted by Abel
Darwish in the BBC, it was one of the causes of the 1967 Six-Day War.
In practice the access to water has been a casus belli for Israel. The
Israeli army prohibits Palestinians from pumping water, and settlers
use much more advanced pumping equipment. Palestinians complain of a
lack of access to water in the region. Israelis in the West Bank use
four times as much water as their Palestinian neighbors. According to
the World Bank, 90% of the West Bank's water is used by Israelis.
Article 40 of the appendix B of the September 28, 1995 Oslo accords
stated that "Israel recognizes Palestinians' rights on water in the
West Bank".
- The Golan
Heights provide 770 million cubic meters (27 billion ft3) of water per
year to Israel, which represents a third of its annual consumption. The
Golan's water goes to the Sea of Galilee — Israel's largest reserve —
which is then redistributed throughout the country by the National
Water Carrier. The Golan, which Israel annexed, represents a strategic
territory for Israel because of its water resources.
- However,
the level on the Sea of Galilee has dropped over the years, sparking
fears that Israel's main water reservoir will become salinated.
- On its
northern border, Israel threatened military action in 2002 when Lebanon
opened a new pumping station taking water from a river feeding the
Jordan. To help ease the crisis, Israel has agreed to buy water from
Turkey and is investigating the construction of desalination plants.
- Iraq and
Syria watched with apprehension the construction of the Atatürk Dam in
Turkey and a projected system of 22 dams on the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers.
- According
to the BBC, the list of 'water-scarce' countries in the region grew
steadily from three in 1955 to eight in 1990 with another seven
expected to be added within 20 years, including three Nile nations (the
Nile is shared by nine countries).
Asia
- In Asia,
Cambodia and Vietnam are concerned by China's and Laos' attempts to
control the flux of water. China is also preparing the Three Gorges Dam
project on the Yangtze River, which would become the world's largest
dam, causing many social and environmental problems. It also has a
project to divert water from the Yangtze to the dwindling Yellow River,
which feeds China's most important farming region.
- The Ganges
is disputed between India and Bangladesh. The water reserves are being
quickly depleted and polluted, while the glacier feeding the sacred
Hindu river is retreating hundreds of feet each year because of global
warming and deforestation in the Himalayas, which is causing subsoil
streams flowing into the Ganges river to dry up. Downstream, India
controls the flow to Bangladesh with the Farakka Barrage, 10 kilometers
(6 mi) on the Indian side of the border. Until the late 1990s, India
used the barrage to divert the river to Calcutta to keep the city's
port from drying up during the dry season. This denied Bangladeshi
farmers water and silt, and it left the Sundarban wetlands and mangrove
forests at the river's delta seriously threatened. The two countries
have now signed an agreement to share the water more equally. Water
quality, however, remains a problem, with high levels of arsenic and
untreated sewage in the river water.
South America
- The Guaraní
Aquifer, located between the Mercosur countries of Argentina, Brazil,
Bolivia and Paraguay, with a volume of about 40,000 km³, is an
important source of fresh potable water for all four countries.
Source: Encyclopedia
Water and Peace (click here)
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