Sustainable development and management of water resources in the Arab region

Abstract

The Arab region, which occupies some 14 million square kilometer, encompasses Arab countries that lie essentially in semi-arid zones and many areas pass rapidly into arid and hyper-arid climatic environment. Renewable water resources are extremely low compared to other regions in the world. The population in the region has increased from about 78 million in 1950 to 292 million in 2000, thus water demand has increased nearly 4 times, due to improvement in the quality of life and adoption of the food security concept. Per capita availability has decreased from about 3100 m 3 /year in 1950 to about 500 m 3 /year in 2025, at the national level, water resources availability has dropped in 12 countries below the critical level 500 m 3 /year. Focus in the past century has been on sustainability. Sustainability requires integration of economic social, institutional as well as physical systems; As regards physical systems, the intricate relationship between surface and groundwater could be utilized to promote integrated water resources management. Governance need to be developed through greater participation and more transparency and cohesion. An important issue that should be addressed with regard to sustainability of hydrologic systems in arid and semi-arid zones concerns the spatial dimension and time scale of sustainability. Inadequate data, spatial and temporal variability, drought and climate changes add a dimension of uncertainty. For the foreseeable future water policy needs, therefore, to be made in a climate of uncertainty. Under conditions of scarcity, not only intensive supply and demand management has been considered a fundamental need, but also a review of water sector policy is required when per capita water availability is less than 1000 m 3 . As scarcity increases, marginal water resources and non-traditional sources are increasingly used. Water availability is considered a severe constraint on socio-economic development and environmental protection when per capita water resource availability drops below 500 m 3 . Water crises are likely to emerge and may attain serious proportion. Fortunately most countries with per capita water availability less than 500 m 3 in the Arab region are high income countries and are, in a position to respond to serious water scarcity through an increasing dependence on desalination. Given the seriousness of the present water situation and risk of crises in the future, communities in the entire Arab region must strive for a situation where there is no further undermining of the natural resource base. People's attitude towards water must undergo a fundamental change. In view of the vital importance of water for sustaining life and promoting development, innovated approaches and policies are needed to deal with looming crises.