 ID: 45740
Added: 2003-10-28 10:45
Modified: 2006-03-03 15:17
Refreshed: 2010-02-08 10:00
|
|
| MIDDLE EAST: Water Management |
 |
Agriculture is the heaviest user of freshwater and the major economic focus of parched countries in the Middle East and Africa.
IDRC Photo: P. Bennett |
A world "water crisis" is poised to deliver a devastating blow to the Middle East and North Africa — unless this arid region turns the tide on the way it manages water. Decision-makers in this region face two options: find more water or reduce demand on existing water resources. In the past, remedies have mostly focused on increasing the supply of water. Yet supply-side solutions such as desalinating sea-water or tapping aquifers that lie deeper below the earth can come at significant economic and sometimes environmental costs. The focus is therefore turning to managing the demand for water. Most experts in the region believe that water demand management represents a way forward — one that can help improve the quality of life for people living in the region. Over the past several years, IDRC has pursued this option through four meetings organized by the Water Demand Management Forum (WDMF). These meetings attracted more than 500 decision-makers from 11 countries and involved 25 international partner organizations.
The first meeting, held in Morocco, was on water reuse. "Everybody agreed that wastewater reuse must be part of a greater integrated water resource management strategy," said Ellysar Baroudy, who coordinated the Forum. "All
in all, it was very much identified that care must be taken and attention paid. In general, people feel that the cost of no action is much greater than all other costs."The second meeting, held in Beirut, Lebanon, in June 2002, addressed water valuation — a challenging issue Baroudy says is "constantly evolving" in the region. The third meeting, in Amman, Jordan, in October 2002, tackled the idea of public-private partnerships, a new concept for the Middle East and North Africa. The last session, in the Egyptian capital of Cairo in February 2003, dealt with decentralization and participatory management in irrigation.
|
|
