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Arab water security in light of climate change
2024-09-03
Prof. Dr. Isam Mohammed Abdulhameed
Upper Euphrates Basin Developing Centre / University of Anbar
Most of the countries of the Arab world are located within the arid and semi-arid regions, and most of their rivers originate from outside the Arab countries, which increase the challenges of Arab water security due to climate changes that contribute to reducing the quantities of water resources, affecting their quality and reducing their productivity.
This paper includes an introduction that shows the secrets of this strange liquid in preserving the balance of the universe, and a brief historical presentation of water science and management in our Arab countries, with a proposal for broad lines to build optimal management of our water resources, through the establishment of higher water councils that include relevant decision-makers and experts in universities and the field of work in order to prepare strategic studies to achieve optimal management of our renewable resources, promote studies of water harvesting and recycling and groundwater management, and continuously update irrigation systems and take advantage of grey and medium salinity water to reduce of the dangers of drought and desertification.
Preface:
Water, that wondrous magician, has no colour, and no flower would have been decorated with a colour without it, nor would its fragrance smell without it while it was without smell, and what human tasted of delicious food unless the water - tasteless - had been irrigated by him (but We make some of them exceed others in [quality of] fruit. Indeed in that are signs for a people who reason). Glory be to anyone else and he said in it (and made from water every living thing?).
Anyone who contemplates this universe finds that water is the only substance on earth that exists in the three states of matter (liquid, gas, and solid) in abundance and without human intervention. This is due to the characteristics that God Almighty deposited in the water, and to the creativity of the Almighty in designing our solar system on the basis of water conservation (Figure 1). This flaming sun, which is the driving force of the water cycle in nature (Hydrological cycle) is about 150 million kilometres from the Earth, and hydrologists believe that this distance is accurately calculated to save water in the earth according to the cases of the above three matter, if it approached the earth by 10% of what it is to evaporate all the water and living creature on Earth, and if it moved away from that percentage to become about 165 million kilometres, the earth would freeze, including it.
the moon, that enlightening lamp that brings pleasure in the nights of the watchful, is about 384 thousand km from the earth, if its distance from it increased by 10% of what it is now, the waters of the seas and oceans would have become stagnant and stop the phenomenon of tides, and if the moon from the earth 10%, the tide would drown the country, and the most unfair islands to move away.
This amazing design of the universe, and the characteristics deposited in the water, ensure that man lives safely on a land embraced by water, irrigates its cultivation, preserves its energy and inspires its lovers with the melodies of beauty, where the water springs was green and the good face.
This cosmic balance that causes water conservation requires the need for wisdom in the balance of investment and management of the earth's resources in a way that preserves its safe climate without prejudice to this delicate balance of water conservation on earth in the three cases of matter. Hence the Prophet's guidance was the necessity of saving water, even for those who used to perform ablution on a running river.
This is to teach man that the preservation of natural resources is one of the pillars of his mission on this earth. The enormous climatic changes that nations are experiencing today and the resulting drought and deadly flood are the result of man's failure to invest the resources and energies of this earth. This paper will illustrate ways to mitigate these changes, which affect not only water volumes and fluctuations in droughts and floods, but also water quality and cause salinization and decreased productivity.
A picture showing the positions of the sun and moon
A brief history of water science and management in the Arab world:
Some clay figures indicate that farmers in Mesopotamia recommend growing barley instead of wheat in salt-affected soils in the cradle of civilizations several centuries BC, and this shows that they have discovered by experience the diversity of crops in the ability to adapt to salinity. Hence, the oldest classification of irrigation water quality is the Abbasid classification, which divides water into six categories according to the degree of salinity, which was inferred by taste and the sensitivity of plants and animals to it. The name of the best and saltiest of these types was taken from the naming of the Holy Qur'an by saying (One fresh and sweet and one salty and bitter), and the table below presents those classes.
Abbasid Water Quality Classification - on (Ismail, Hamid Nashat 1991)
|
No. |
Water class |
Water quality |
|
1 |
Fresh and sweet |
Very slightly saline |
|
2 |
Potable water |
Slightly saline and suitable for human consumption |
|
3 |
Drinkable water |
Moderately saline and consumed by livestock |
|
4 |
Extremely saline water |
Saline and not suitable for drinking |
|
5 |
Hot and pungent water |
Very salty, causing plant leaves to burn |
|
6 |
Brackish water |
Bitter salty water |
Water scarcity in the Arab world:
Most of our Arab countries suffer from a great scarcity of water, which is exacerbated by the impact of climate change that threatens the whole world, especially the arid and semi-arid areas in which our Arab homeland is located. The Arab world is called the thirst triangle, where the area of our Arab countries occupies about 9.1% of the land area, while the proportion of surface water in the rivers and lakes of the Arab world is less than 1% of the earth's surface water, while rainfall is only about 2% of the world's rainfall.
As a result, 19 Arab countries fall below the water poverty line, with a per capita share of less than one thousand cubic meters per year. Of these, 14 countries suffer from great scarcity, as the availability of their water resources is not enough to meet basic needs. Climate and environmentalists warn that about a third of Arab agricultural land is vulnerable to desertification due to severe water depletion. Hence, it is necessary to sound the alarm and to give the issue of water resources management the utmost importance to adapting to climate change in order to achieve water and food security for our Arab peoples.
Alternative water resources:
Brackish water (BW), which is agricultural drainage water. BW and some groundwater that have salt concentrations, not exceeding 7,000 ppm. This water can be used to irrigate trees and salt-tolerant crops such as palm, barley and cotton. It should be noted that there are billions of cubic meters per year of agricultural drainage water that can be used to improve water and food security in light of climate change, for example, about four billion cubic meters of agricultural drainage water in Iraq flows downstream and then to the Arabian Gulf, most of which is brackish water that can be used to expand the cultivation of palm forests and salt-tolerant field crops.
Rainwater harvesting, this can be an important resource even in dry areas with an average annual rainfall depth of less than 200 mm, such as Al-Thirthar in Iraq, which achieves an average annual water harvest of more than one billion cubic meters of high-purity rainwater. It is necessary to expand the construction of small dams for harvesting rainwater to benefit from them directly or by contributing to the recharge of groundwater by increasing its quantity and improving its quality.
Expanding the establishment of sand reservoirs for rainwater, which contributes to enhancing groundwater imports and reducing evaporation losses, as it was found that storing water in sandy or gravel Soils reduces evaporation losses by 90% when the water level is at a depth of 20 cm from the soil surface.
Heavy water treated and grey water circulation. Recent studies show that about 80% of water for domestic and industrial uses can be treated and reused. This can be used in the cultivation of green belts that contribute to improving environmental conditions and reducing the effects of extreme climate changes.
Conclusion:
After it became clear of the serious scarcity of our water resources and the importance of managing our water resources in a way that achieves water and food security for our Arab countries, it is necessary to take this matter seriously and form higher water management councils that are directly linked to the highest authority in the country, with the need for these councils to include water and environmental scientists in universities and research centres with field experts in the relevant ministries and departments. There is no doubt that water and food security is a shared responsibility that should be observed by all and cooperate in solving its problems.
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