Fresh Water in the ME 2013.pptx

7/27/2019 Fresh Water in the ME 2013.pptx

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Water is the lifeblood of our planet and lack of access to cleanfresh water is one of the most significant humanitarian,

environmental and economic issues facing the world today.

(RBC Blue Water Project, 2012)


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Introduction Millions of people depend on fresh water from three major

rivers. The Nile which starts in Africa, and Egypt is the lastrecipient of its water; the Euphrates which starts in Turkeyand flows into Syria, Iraq and the Arabian Gulf; the Tigris

which also starts in Turkey and flows into Iraq and the

Arabian Gulf. Also, the Jordan River supplies fresh water tocountries along its route.

The environmental changes that contributed to manydroughts, as well as the increase in population, has led to

the shortage of fresh water in the Arab World.

Some Middle Eastern experts predict that the lack of freshwater in the majority of countries in the Middle East will bethe spark that will ignite conflict and wars, rather than oil.


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Largest body of Fresh water inIsrael.

21 km (north to south)141 feet deep

Mainly fed by Jordan river (North)and under water springs.

Drains into Jordan River (South)

In the 1950s, Israel built a pipeline(National Water Carrier of Israel) topump water out of the Sea of Galilee

Decreasing Water levels due to highdemand.


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Fed by rain/snow from MountHermon, Lake Huleh, Sea of

Galilee (Tiberias), Golan Heights Drains into the Dead Sea

251 Kilometres

Was the main source of freshwater for surrounding regions

Is now almost dry for most ofthe year


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1960s moved 1.3 billion cubicmeters of water to the Dead Sea

Dams, canals and pumping

stations built by Israel, Jordanand Syria to divert water forcrops and drinking have reducedthe flow by more than 90 % to

approx. 100 million cubic meters. Dead Sea is disappearing , with

water levels are decreasing by 1meter every year.

Jordan River


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Ground Water Aquifers

An aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeablerock or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, silt, or clay) from

which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well.


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Major source of water is fromunderground aquifers.

Main water producing aquifers

are controlled by Israel.


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Not enough rain water to replenish water takenout through pumps and wells

Wells become deeper as water table decreases

Salt water incursions from the sea (fingers of salt

water that invade the fresh water aquifers)Ground water in the aquifer becomes brackish(salty) and can no longer be used for drinking andirrigation it will kill plants and animals


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The West Bank

Yarkon-Tanninim Aquifer - Supplies Israel withabout 340 million cubic meters of water annually, usedby the Jerusalem-Tel-Aviv area. Palestinians use

about 20 million cubic meters a year. Nablus-Gilboa Aquifer - Supplies Israel with

about 115 million cubic meters a year, largely foragricultural irrigation.

The Eastern Aquifer - Supplies about 40 millioncubic meters annually to the Israeli settlements in theJordan Valley, and about 60 million cubic meters to thePalestinians.


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Tigris-Euphrates The Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which have their sources

within 50 miles (80 km) of each other in eastern Turkeytravel southeast through northern Syria and Iraq to the

head of the Persian Gulf.

Canals, dykes and dams were built in Iraqsouthern ,routing the water of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers aroundthe marshes, instead of allowing water to move slowly

through the marshland. After part of the Euphrates wasdried up due to re-routing its water to the sea, a dam wasbuilt so water could not back up from the Tigris andsustain the former marshland.


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Ilisu Dam (southern Turkey) Located on the Tigris River, it is the largest hydroelectric

power plant of the project. It is estimated that 165 m highdam will create a reservoir with a maximum volume of 10.4billion m and a surface area of 313 km and is expected toproduce 3,800 GWh of power per year.

Construction started on August 5, 2006, was halted afterinternational funding was lost in December 2008 butbegan again in July 2009; expected completion in 2015.

As for fears that the dam will become an internationalflashpoint - with the countries downstream, Syria and Iraq- receiving less water, officials pledge that the design of thedam will make it impossible to hold water back, andanyway Turkey would never want to.


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IRRIGATION

Approximately 20% of crops are irrigated: 15% in USA,70% in China Large quantities evaporate (30% if irrigated at noon)

when using sprinklers; canals are worse Draining underground aquifers (China, India, Pakistan,

Mexico, Middle East, North Africa, USA) Wells must get deeper Poisons the land with salt through fertilizers and

leaching Salt water incursions: fingers of salt water move into the

aquifer when the fresh water is depleted, making theresulting water brackish (salty) cannot be used fordrinking or for crops (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Florida, GazaStrip)


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Canal

irrigation isthe least

efficient.

Water sits onthe surface in aseries of canalsand evaporates

quickly.


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Using sprinklers

is an inefficient

form of

irrigation.

Basically, they roll in

a large circle. It isused widely in desertareas to grow cropssuch as alfalfa orgrain. You often seeit in Egypt or theAmerican Midwest.


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Partial Solutions

Lower population growth

Desalination plants (1% of fresh water, mostly in MiddleEast); expensive ($1-$2 per cubic meter). What to dowith the salt?

Drip irrigation (water in plastic tubes to each plant) Reduces water usage by 30-70%

Increases plant yields by 20-90% (see next slide) Genetic engineering of crops to require less water Water conservation, supported by higher prices for

fresh water Only irrigate in the early morning or evening Collect and store rainwater Recycle water (grey water) Eat grain rather than cattle (see next slide)


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Eat Grain Rather Than Cattle

1 ton grain = 1,000 tons water

1 ton potatoes = 500-1,500 tons water

1 ton chicken = 3,500-5,700 tons water

1 ton beef = 15,000-70,000 tons water


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For Indias Farmers, a Bare-Bones Drip SystemFebruary 17, 2011ByVIKAS BAJAJ

During a recent trip to a rural part of western India to report on rising food prices, I met twokinds of farmers those with access to irrigation and those without. The differences betweenthe two were stark.

Those with drip irrigation or sprinklers invariably were reaping rich harvests and profits.

But the vast majority of Indias farmers fall in the second camp: they water their crops by floodingtheir fields with water from wells, or, if they are really poor, they simply wait for the monsoon rains.These farmers seem to live from crop cycle to crop cycle. Some years they hit a bumper crop if the rainis timely and plentiful but not overwhelming, but a bad flood or a weak monsoon can destroy them.

Manik Singh Jadhav was one of the fortunate farmers. I interviewed him in this video. Hehas a masters degree in English literature but chose to farm the family plot, which now has 10 acres.He has a system from Jain Irrigation, an Indian company that has been growing at a breakneck pace

selling drip systems that can deliver a measured quantity of water and fertilizers to the roots of everyplant.Mr. Jadhav says farmers must invest in irrigation if they are to break out of the cycle of debt andfailure that traps so many in India.

But some systems cost about 45,000 rupees, or about $1,000, an acre. The Indiangovernment provides a subsidy to cover as much as 50 percent of the cost of the system, but that isstill too expensive for many farmers who earn less than 20,000 rupees an acre on their five-acrevegetable farm. That makes it unlikely that they will be investing in drip irrigation for the farm

anytime soon.
http://zmanoj.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/for-india%e2%80%99s-farmers-a-bare-bones-drip-system/http://zmanoj.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/for-india%e2%80%99s-farmers-a-bare-bones-drip-system/http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/author/vikas-bajaj/http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/02/11/business/1248069587782/indian-farmers-left-behind.htmlhttp://zmanoj.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/drip-irrigation-system.jpghttp://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/02/11/business/1248069587782/indian-farmers-left-behind.htmlhttp://zmanoj.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/drip-irrigation-system.jpghttp://green.blogs.nytimes.com/author/vikas-bajaj/http://zmanoj.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/for-india%e2%80%99s-farmers-a-bare-bones-drip-system/http://zmanoj.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/for-india%e2%80%99s-farmers-a-bare-bones-drip-system/http://zmanoj.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/for-india%e2%80%99s-farmers-a-bare-bones-drip-system/http://zmanoj.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/for-india%e2%80%99s-farmers-a-bare-bones-drip-system/http://zmanoj.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/for-india%e2%80%99s-farmers-a-bare-bones-drip-system/


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Cloud SeedingCloud seeding is a long-practised technology which uses rockets,planes, cannons or ground generators to fire particles, usually silveriodide, into clouds to encourage water vapour to gather around themand eventually fall as rain.
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.clker.com/cliparts/3/6/f/e/12581265611245301399DooFi_Cloud_Seeding_by_plane.svg.hi.png&imgrefurl=http://www.clker.com/clipart-41532.html&usg=__XHuJXDB1LjVwPu22Irj6DtajQ4c=&h=481&w=600&sz=59&hl=en&start=15&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Gea8YrBi7qH6RM:&tbnh=108&tbnw=135&prev=/images?q=cloud+seeding&hl=en&tbm=isch&ei=D5vuTeLwOMnhrAGUwbjBCA

Fresh Water in the ME 2013.pptx

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