Water-rich Country Research Articles

The role of water exports in Iranian foreign policy towards the GCC

A severe shortage of water is one of the critical problems facing the countries comprising the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). On the supply side, very low levels of precipitation and the absence of lakes and major river systems have made water scarcity a defining characteristic of the Arabian Peninsula where these countries are situated. Natural water resources are restricted to runoff produced from flash floods and groundwater in shallow alluvial aquifers. While there are also sizeable fossil water reserves trapped in deep sedimentary formations, the problem is that these are not renewable. Although modern technologv has enabled the GCC countries to supplement these sources by desalination of sea and brackish water for domestic use, desalinated water remains expensive.1 On the demand side, the picture is even grimmer. The discovery of huge oil and gas reserves under the sand dunes of the peninsula have fuelled population growth, economic development, and a rising standard of living-all of which have increased the demand for water. The misguided water policies adopted by the GCC states have further exacerbated the situation. One example is encouragement of unconstrained demand through the creation of a patriarchal system of welfare provision while another is the promotion of agriculture in the name of food security.2 Consequently, demand for water has become unlimited and unsustainable. While in the Arabian Peninsula water scarcity is a serious problem, on the other side of the Persian Gulf in Iran, water resources are more plentiful (see Table 1 below). Although, as the table indicates, Iran is by no means a waterrich country; the difference in water endowment between Iran and its southern neighbors is sizeable enough to make water exports a plausible option. This is particularly the case when considering that most of Iran's major rivers which can provide water for export-Karun, Dez, Karkheh and Jarrahi-are located in the southwest of the country in close proximity to the Arabian Peninsula. In fact, this area, which falls within the province of Khuzestan, contains one-third of the country's entire surface water.3

WATER IN CANADA: RESOURCES AND ISSUES

THIS ARTICLE CONSIDERS CANADIAN water resource issues. It is written from a UK perspective but has necessarily drawn on the work of North American authors. On occasions, when there are few current researchers working on some aspects discussed, we have drawn heavily from these results and in addition to the direct referencing of material, we wish to acknowledge the significance of the source material. This article considers the status of water resources in Canada together with the associated threats and issues to the effective management of the resource. Despite being defined internationally as a water-rich country, climatic, topographic and demographic diversity ensures that most water-related issues and problems are encountered in at least some of Canada's territories and provinces. Included in this article is an introduction to Canada's freshwater resource and water uses that exert a demand on that resource together with a summary of the water management structure. The hazards associated with water in Canada will then be discussed, those being flooding, drought and water quality. Finally two key exemplars of issues affecting the resource will be highlighted, those being the threat of exotic species and water transfers. The resource Canada has approximately 20 per cent of the total freshwater in the world and 9 per cent of the world's total freshwater runoff or water supply (Goodman and Thompson 2002) - the difference in these two figures relating to the exceptional water storage in Canada's Lakes. This water is located in a country covering almost 10 million km2 or 7.9 per cent of the land surface of the world (Gleick 2000). Although Canada has apparently a generous supply of freshwater, it is not evenly distributed throughout the country nor is it available throughout the year as significant parts of the theoretical resource are only seasonally available being frozen for part of the year. As a result of Canada's diverse climatic zones, some parts of the country, such as the semi-arid Prairies, experience prolonged periods of drought (at the time of writing, in January 2003, very severe [pers. comm. Alberta farmers]) while others, such as Canada's east and west coasts, are moderated by maritime influences and have a plentiful supply of water year round. Canada's annual precipitation ranges from 50mm in the far north to as much as 4000mm in the temperate rain forest regions of the Pacific Coast (Environment Canada 2002a). The diversity of Canada's hydrology is a reflection of its biophysical complexity but the diversity of its water resource management is, in addition, a reflection of its demographic and settlement diversity. Some of the wettest parts of Canada are found in the mountainous Montane and Boreal Cordillera and Pacific Maritime ecozones covering British Columbia, southwestern Alberta and much of the Yukon Territory. The annual precipitation exceeds 3000mm along the Pacific Coast, and the steep terrain and relatively shallow soils can in some areas, shed almost 90 per cent of precipitation as runoff to the Pacific (Woo 2001). Many of the valleys in British Columbia are underlain by gravel aquifers that are valuable reservoirs for groundwater. Some 12 per cent of all the water used in British Columbia is groundwater derived (Martin et al. 2000). In contrast, the annual precipitation of the semi-arid Prairies varies between 300 to 500mm (Woo 2001). Runoff on the Plains averages well under 200mm per year, especially in the south where it can average less than 50mm, the majority is lost to evaporation (Environment Canada 2002a). The sources of most of the major rivers in the Prairies, such as the Saskatchewan, are located in the Rockies. Their streamflow is supplied by the extended melt of the mountain snowpack, and runoff is sustained through the summer and autumn by glacial melting. These rivers are supplemented by a few small rivers draining prairie land, which are subject to large fluctuations ranging from none to ten times the average (Martin et al. …

RIVER-WATER POLLUTION IN NORWAY: SOME REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IMPLICATIONS∗

This paper presents a systematic method of classifying water quality and identifies factors influencing the water quality of Norwegian rivers. Water quality and potential-pollution indices are developed for selected Norwegian drainage basins. The lowest-quality water is in the Mandals and Auli drainage areas, but the Glomma-Gudbrandsdal-Mjosa-Vorma system has the greatest pollution potential. Thus even in a waterrich country such as Norway, water policy is a major concern.