It's time to rethink water and energy links in Middle East

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Lebanon, a water-rich country by MENA standards.

Much of Lebanon's water comes from snow that falls on its mountains and then melts gradually, yet that snowfall could decline sharply: by 40% with 2°C of warming, and 70% with 4°C, according to the country's Second National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Because Lebanon is narrow, water also quickly runs off from the mountains into the sea. And coastal aquifers are threatened by seawater intrusion from over-pumping and sea level rise.

Lebanon wants to tap its extensive hydropower potential, but building dams - the most common approach - could divert water from irrigation and urban uses, losing significant amounts of water through evaporation from the reservoirs.

Multi-functional reservoirs (e.g. hydropower, plus irrigation, plus recreation) might help to increase water productivity.

Hydropower is also important for Egypt, supplying 13% of the country's power, mostly from the Assuan High Dam.

Climate change could seriously compromise storage and hydropower production; Egypt also wants to increase its energy efficiency by 20% by 2022, which will help - but it's unlikely to suffice given that Egypt's population is growing by 20% every 13 years.

One promising option for Egypt and other MENA countries is solar-powered water pumps, which are both climate- and energy-smart and take advantage of the fact that highest demands for water pumping (for irrigation) coincide with highest solar insolation in summer.

Treating and reusing wastewater and recovering energy from the sludge would also yield significant benefits; Egypt is ahead of the pack in this regard - the Al Gabal Asfar water treatment plant is nearly energy self-sufficient.

4 Answers

  1. Dear Asma, very true. The Middle East is one of the most water insecure regions in the world. This already scarce natural resource has the potential to spark local and inter-state conflict throughout this troubled region.

  2. With a rising global population, increasing water use per capita and depleting reserves of groundwater, there's no doubt that blue gold, as water is sometimes called, is an increasingly precious resource. Yet despite a wealth of reports, books and films examining the problem of water scarcity, it doesn't always feature high on the agenda. This year's political unrest in the water-starved Middle East has raised the profile of the issue, with various commentators predicting that lack of water will be the region's next big issue.Asma, wel done as you broght up this issue. It will be Great read something on Dead Sea.

  3. Dear Asma It is a very important, yet a very widely discussed issue.Alot of in favour of capping the natural resources by one country or state could be found and ofcourse you will be hearing the other version as well. However, I mantain that people and countries just dont exist by chance but their presence evolved by the passage of time and it is but natural that Nature wants them to co-exist. This is just the basic factor, nations or countries tend to forget criminally. Throghout my professional trot, I have been observing first the advocacy hype in the favour of CAPPING the resources and that too expecially water , by those who feel they can gate the natural flow and then after some time instead of countries fighting, states , regions, clans, tribes, groups within the same country fight amongst each other for the natural resource.Later the budget and resources of the nation are spent in conflict management and the wonders of the dam or a barrage get lost in the dust of the quarelling brothers. So the point is that creating a dam wont do good that is what has been my experience. Let aside the environmental concerns which will start to show their teeth after five to ten years, you will observe a bitter collar grabbing as soon as one party becomes the regulator of the resource and the other reciever. So a sagacious move would be to derive the natural share and let the stream flow through and to its natural destiny. Recycling is among one of the best options and ofcourse coupled with solar effeciency.