Geopolitics in the Middle East Water Issues in

Geopolitics in the Middle East Water Issues in the Region Ann Hamze North Carolina Geographic Alliance Power. Point Presentations 2007

OIL vs. Water Without OIL in Southwest Asia, people won’t live well. Without WATER they won’t survive.

Who has water and who needs it? ØThe Tigris River originates in Turkey and flows through Arab nation of Iraq ØThe Euphrates River originates In Turkey and flows through Arab nations of Syria and Iraq ØThe Orontes River originates in Turkey and flows into Syria ØThe Jordan River that flows into Israel and the Palestinian territories has its origin in Lebanon and Israel

Pressures on Water Resources ØRapid Population Growth Turkey Syria Iraq ØUrban development puts pressure on water resources ØIncreased standard of living, increases water use ØIndustrial development is small in comparison to increased agricultural projects using irrigation

Water Quality Environmental problems on rivers do not respect national boundaries Fertilizer runoff Untreated wastewater Increased salinity Environmental Effect

Euphrates River Longest river in SW Asia (2700 km. ) Originates in springs in the Highlands of Turkey Two tributaries in Turkey: the Murat & Karasu which join at the Keban Dam

Tigris River Ø 2 nd longest river in SW Asia (1849 km. ) ØOriginates in the Highlands of Turkey Ø 32 km. is a national border between Turkey & Syria ØBaghdad is the confluence of the Tigris and Diyala Rivers ØSources: 51. 9% Turkey 48. 1 % Iraq

Tigris River The Tigris floods often inundating large areas Water flow is seasonal Summer: 150 to 200 cubic meters/sec. Spring: 5000 cubic meters/sec

Tigris to Euphrates Canal Tharthar Reservoir was built in 1950 s to protect Baghdad from floods. It stores excess water upstream.

Potential and consumption targets of Euphrates. Tigris river basins (x 109 m 3/a) River Basin Total Flow Consumption Targets Euphrates 35. 6 52. 9 Tigris 48. 7 54. 5

Turkey’s GAP project: Southeast Anatolia Project Turkey last launched a massive development project in the 1980 s Project include : 22 dams 19 hydroelectric plants

The GAP project Irrigation: 40% of Turkey’s land has shortage of water Irrigate additional 1. 7 million hectares (19% of Turkey’s potential) Hydroelectricity: 27 billion kilowatts of electricity with an installed capacity of 7, 500 million watts (22% of Turkey’s potential)

Expanding the scope of GAP Today GAP has further goals: Agriculture Urban and rural infrastructure Education Health Financing: Now self-financed because the World Bank refused to continue to finance unless Turkey solved their Kurdish problem.

Ataturk Dam 4 th largest dam in the world Syria feels that their water supply will be compromised While filling the reservoir, the Euphrates flow stopped for 1 month

Ataturk Dam Location in Turkey

Turkey’ Position The GAP project will benefit lower riparian nations by providing regulated water supply They say Syria’s Syrian techniques of open irrigation hasn’t changed since Sumerian times and leads to 50% loss to evaporation Syria’s Russian technology in dam construction miscalculated the turbine placement resulting in an excess need for water to run the hydroelectric plants

Syria’s Position Takes opposite views depending on which river. As a lower riparian state it ask for more (Euphrates) As an upper riparian state it tries to keep it all (Yarmouk & Orontes)

This is an example of some of the remaining nurias on the Orontes River. In some areas of Syria irrigation methods have not changed in centuries

Political Conflicts over Water 1967: Israel launched war against Jordan, Syria, and Egypt. One objective was to secure control of the Jordan River high waters 1974: Syria’s al-Thawra Dam created a crisis with Iraq because the Euphrates flow was reduced by 25%. Iraq threatened to bomb the dam and massed troops on the border. 1980 -1988: Shatt-el-Arab (the delta of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers) was site of territorial dispute between Iran and Iraq.

International Views on Water Rights Harmon Doctrine (1896) Upstream state can freely deplete/utilize a river’s flow within its boundaries without considering the effect on downstream states. Prior Appropriation Whoever uses it first (upstream or down) gets to continue to do so

3 rd view: Lower riparians have right to an uninterrupted flow of a river from the territory of upper riparian no matter what the priority Today International law sees a strong role for “use for yourselves as long as you don’t spoil it for others. ”

The new Global View Naturalists, engineers, economists see a “community of interest” approach. The entire river is a hydrological unit that should be managed as an integrated whole. Such visionaries also admit that states have not yet evolved to this level of cooperation

Possible Solutions Cooperative options Shared information and technology Interbasin water transfers Joint regional planning Increase Supply Wastewater reclamation Increase catchment and storage Cloud seeding Desalination Fossil aquifer development Decrease Demand Population control Rationing Public awareness Allow price of water to reflect true costs Efficient agriculture, including: Drip irrigation Greenhouse technology Genetic engineering for drought and salinity resistance

Other conflicts Jordan River Basin: the players include the Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria Political reorder if the USA invades Iraq: the Kurds

Kurdistan