‘If we do not act, the reality is that water
supplies may become the subject of inter-
national conflict in the years ahead,’ said
UK Minister for International Development
Gareth Thomas in 2008.
When the demand for water overtakes
supply and several stakeholders wish to
use the same resource, there is a
potential for conflict.
Competing demands for water for
irrigation, power generation, domestic
use, recreation and conservation can also
create tension both between and within
countries.
Conflict is perhaps more
likely where developing
countries are involved.
Water is vital as they struggle to feed their growing populations and promote industrial
development, and often they have to cope with a legacy of poor water management.
Just as oil resources have caused growing
international tension over the last 50 years, many
people see water resources as the next flashpoint.
UN reports suggest there are around 300 potential water
conflicts around the world as rivers, lakes and aquifers struggle
to provide sufficient supplies for neighbouring countries
It should be noted that politicians and government map- makers have not always
helped these situations, creating boundaries and borders which do not easily fit with the
natural features of river catchments.
The middle east water conflicts
The middle east is already an area of significant
conflict. The fact that it has relatively low
seasonal rainfall and growing population is the
root cause of the tensions over water resources
In the western part of this region, Israelis, Syrians,
Jordanians, Lebanese and Palestinians are in
dispute over shrinking water supplies.
Security of water supplies was not
the cause of the Arab–Israeli war in
1967, but was a contributory factor.
Water in this region comes
primarily from two sources: the
River Jordan (and its lakes) and
three important aquifers.
The division of these water
resources between the
neighbouring states is an
ongoing challenge.
In the eastern part of the region, Turkey plans to
build dams to store and use water in the headwa-
ters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
This is strongly opposed by Syria and Iraq, where
reduced water supplies threaten to hold back economic
development and food production.
Tensions between India and Bangladesh
For much of its 2,500 km length, the Ganges flows through India.
But the last part of its course takes it through Bangladesh, where it
is known first as the Padma River.
In 1974 India opened the huge Farakka Barrage, just 11 km
from the Bangladeshi border.
It is joined later by the Jamuna River, the largest
distributary of the Brahmaputra, and takes on the
name Meghna before flowing out into the Bay of
Bengal.
Further upstream, a series of dams divert water into irrigation
systems and many of India’s largest cities use the river to carry
wastewater from domestic and industrial sources.
It is being deprived of much-needed water and has
to suffer the effects of India’s pollution of the river.
Although an agreement was signed in 1990 by the two countries about
sharing the waters of the Ganges, India is very much in control of the situation.
To make matters worse for Bangladesh, India now has
plans to make greater use of the Brahmaputra, which
also flows through India before reaching Bangladesh
Bangladeshi grievances include the following:
reduced flow of the river is affecting
irrigation and food production
Fish stocks and the
fishing industry are
declining
navigation and water-borne trade are becoming harder because of lower river levels
lower river flows are increasing salinisation
the delta is eroding because less silt is being carried and deposited
seawater incursion is increasing as the delta dries out