Water Wars – Tread Softly

History is replete with water conflict, from squabbles between neighbouring farms to wars decided by cutting off, or poisoning, a water supply.

Fear of water wars pervades the modern era. The ingredients are certainly there – the mega-dam technology that denies supplies to downstream countries, the location of major rivers in regions already convulsed by conflict, and the relentless shift towards water scarcity on a global scale. According to data maintained by the Pacific Institute, the incidence of water-related conflict has doubled over the last decade.

However, it would be naive to attribute water-related conflicts to scarcity alone. Near neighbours, whether villages or nation states, have a predilection for disagreement on any issue. Water has become a global security issue due to evidence that weak governance or regional political tensions can overwhelm the basic logistics of water management.

Activist Vandana Shiva argues that the impact of climate change on water resources may provoke violence in India
from Global Oneness Project

There are many studies suggesting that the Syrian conflict had its origins in the country’s rapid expansion of agriculture, at the expense of water security. The Middle East and North Africa region is constantly at the mercy of unstable water governance. An obvious vulnerability is the River Jordan which supplies water to Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Syria.

Arid Middle East faces political battles over water shortfalls – the threat of conflict between Israel and Palestinians is exacerbated by the problem of water scarcity
from PBS NewsHour

Within the Middle East’s most serious recent turbulence in Iraq, Yemen and Syria, there is constant vigilance over any reports that civilian water supplies have been the target of violent attacks. Alleged examples include the actions of Turkey in Kurdish areas of Syria. Such violence would constitute a breach of international law, a provision that contributed to the International Criminal Court’s successful indictment of Omar al-Bashir, the former ruler of Sudan.

Management of a transboundary river is a zero sum game; if one country gains in distribution rights, another loses. Bangladesh is almost bound to challenge Indian schemes such as the north-south river-linking project, given that 54 out of India’s 56 rivers pass through Bangladesh.

India-Pakistan water dispute explained – water scarcity adds to existing tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours
from TRT World

In Southeast Asia, concerns centre on the impact of a sequence of dams on the Mekong River under construction in Laos, combined with China’s management of 21 dams on the upper Mekong. Potentially significant downstream impacts in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam range from the degradation of ecosystems to human displacement and loss of livelihoods.

The Mekong River Commission is an inter-governmental agency formed by the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam to further their interests of shared water resources of the Mekong River. The Commission lacks powers of enforcement and has been unable to persuade Laos to scale back its proposals.

When the Mekong River turned blue – major dam construction in Laos threatens the health of the river on which more than 60 million people depend for their livelihoods
from Channel News Asia

Similar impotence has been the experience of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), established in 1999 to coordinate the interests of no fewer than ten countries that share the resources of the River Nile. Egypt, historically the dominant partner, believes that filling the reservoir of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will undermine agriculture in the Nile Delta. In recent failed attempts to facilitate a negotiated solution, mediation was conducted by the African Union.

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more Water Scarcity briefings (updated May 2021)
Water Cycle
Causes of Water Scarcity
Climate Change and Water Scarcity
Solutions to Water Scarcity
Sustainable Development Goal for Water
Source material and useful links

Recent news and opinion about Water Scarcity

Middle East’s groundwater: Will it soon run out?

16/8/2023: As rivers dry up and rainfall declines, water stored underground is more important than ever. Many Middle Eastern countries already have regulations about water use but there is a lack of enforcement to regulate water abstraction for agriculture.

Source: DW

Water – a weapon of war or a tool for peace?

11/7/2023: The recent Kakhovka dam disaster in Ukraine is a painful reminder of how destruction of water infrastructure can cause enormous suffering in times of war. Researchers who have studied Yemen, Libya, and Syria say that attacks on civilian and environmental infrastructure have become more common in the past decade.

Source: Inter Press Service

Water security lags behind in UN environmental protection

25/3/2023: The UN’s first water conference in nearly 50 years claims to have secured over $300 billion of promises of global action. But there is no legally binding international agreement to protect water resources and no UN special envoy.

Source: Devex

UN warns of’imminent global water crisis

22/3/2023: The UN has released the World Water Development Report 2023, painting a grim picture of rising global water scarcity. It finds that about 10% of the global population lives in countries where water stress is considered "high or critical."

Source: DW

Access to safe drinking water requires increased investment

24/10/2022: The State of the World’s Drinking Water report notes that over 2 billion people have gained access to safe drinking water in the past two decades. However, one-quarter of the world’s population has been left behind and governments must dramatically increase political commitment and quadruple investment in drinking water.

Source: World Health Organization

Countries must step up efforts to protect freshwater sources

25/8/2022: As events marking World Water Week continue in Stockholm, countries are urged to do more to adapt to the cascading impacts of the climate crisis on freshwater ecosystems, with increasingly frequent and intense dry periods interspersed with floods and extreme precipitation.

Source: UN Environment Programme

Ethiopia expands Renaissance Dam production

11/8/2022: Ethiopia has activated the second turbine of the Grand Renaissance Dam, even as Egypt protested that dispute resolutions relating to the dam remain pending. The dam on the Blue Nile should improve access to electricity in Ethiopia which is currently just under 45 percent.

Source: The East African

The Mekong delta’s transboundary water problems

30/4/2022: The fragmentation of the Mekong River due to the construction of large-scale hydropower dams illustrates the inability of downstream states to shape the Mekong Agreement of 1995 into regional aims, rather than centred around national interests. The Mekong River is the lifeblood of countries in the region .

Source: East Asia Forum

Freshwater planetary boundary oversteps the line

27/4/2022: Humanity’s modification of the water cycle has pushed the world further beyond a safe operating space for continued life on Earth, say scientists. Water is the sixth boundary to be transgressed, out of the nine identified by the Planetary Boundaries Framework, first published in 2009.

Source: Mongabay

Worrying insights from assessment of water security in Africa

6/4/2022: Only 29 African countries have made progress in water security over the past three to five years. Twenty-five have made none. The UN’s concept of water security encompasses various criteria and more effort is needed to establish global standards for data and assessment.

Source: The Conversation

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