Desertification

More than a dozen countries in the Middle East and Africa compete for water from three rivers (Tigris, Nile and Jordan). The level of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth, has receded about 3 feet (1 meter) each year for the past 25 years. And continued water scarcity will affect the region’s social and economic potential, increase land vulnerability to salinization and desertification, and raise the risk for political conflict around the limited water available.

Israel is banking on controversial technology, such as desalination plants that convert seawater into freshwater, to meet future water needs. It built the largest
largest desalination plant in the region and is building another four. Israeli President Shimon Peres, who tackled the issue of water in the Middle East at the Clinton Global Initiative had this to say: “We never had water in the Middle East, even Moses tried to extract water from a stone, it worked for a very short while (laughter).

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