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Assess the potential for water supply
to become a source of conflict


In theory, there is no actual global water shortage; human beings as a species only use about 50% of the water available. However, due to there being an uneven global distribution of water supplies and a rising demand for the resource, certain areas of the world are facing various degrees of physical and economic scarcity.

Water supply is increasingly becoming a geopolitical issue, particularly in the case of trans boundary sources where conflict over water allocation can strain relations between both regional states and countries.

There are a variety of reasons why water supply has the potential to cause conflict or ‘water wars’ internationally or globally; there may be different users of the same water supply, for example, within the Middle East the River Jordan and three major aquifers are situated.

Israelis, Syrians Jordanians and Palestinians are in conflict over shrinking supplies of the water available, the division of the water sources obtainable and the growing population who are dependant on it. Turkey is in dispute with Syria and Iraq over damming more of the Tigris and Euphrates River, as the country use this method to generate power and also to increase farmland; however the reservoirs that have been built are taking a vast amount of water from Syria straining the already limiting supplies of the country including agriculture etc.

This is possibly the greatest conflict hot spot concerning water: the Middle East and North Africa are probably the driest and most water scarce regions on earth – with 5% of the world’s population and just 1% of it is freshwater. Middle eastern countries without the advantage of oil or gas reserves depend on high yielding crops to generate wealth as well as feed their populations: for example, Turkey and Israel use their natural water supplies in order to improve productivity and therefore, economic development.

However, because their economic development strategies involve high levels of water consumption, they require access to rivers which flow into or out of neighbouring countries, and this is why the Middle East .....[read full text]

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For example, The Ganges, which runs through India and Bangladesh, is essential for agriculture and supplying food for small business farmers and also TNC’s, however due to India’s industrialisation; pollution within the water has become a major issue decreasing production and increasing famine within Bangladesh.

This is also accelerated due to the increased use of fertilisers and pesticides penetrating the already disease infested water, which contains e.g. cholera; this contributes to the high infant mortality rate. Irrigation, domestic life, i.e. drinking and sewage disposal, Industrial use, navigation and transportation of goods also affect the quality of water in the Ganges, increasing potential for conflict.

There is also a social aspect to this argument: The Ganges water is seen as holy to the Hindu community and is regularly used in religious practises such as bathing and also cremating people within the water. Not only can this pollute the river and cause environmental damage, issues can also emerge if this practise was banned towards the government, possibly creating the possibility of riots, protests etc.

Internationally there are many examples where several nations place conflicting demands on the same water resource; The Nile is the world’s longest river at 6500km and 360 million people depending on it for survival, however with this resource comes the problem of ‘ownership’.  Ethiopia’s main concern for the Nile River is farming for HEP plants and individual access to safe drinking water; there are 60 million in population but only 25% have access to clean drinking water.

Although, on the other hand, due to the Toshka project, Egypt’s main use of the river Nile is the production, procession and storage of overseas goods and markets such as crops harvested around the river etc. This treatment of the river however, has caused several environmental problems; Lake Nasser is silting up, so long term water supplies may not be reliable.

Salinisation is also possible within the soil due to irrigation which could effect c.....

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However, the specific water shares of individual states were not detailed in the Colorado Compact. Arizona resisted any agreement about this for many years because of uncertainties about California’s growing water demands. The US Supreme Court resolved the Arizona v California dispute in 1963 and water shares were formally agreed, with Native Americans also being allocated shares.

This agreement avoided confrontation and any ‘water wars’ that may have occurred in different r.....


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