The Water Crisis, Middle East And Iraq
If you didn't know it, the world is facing a major water crisis and shortage. More than 1.2 billions people worldwide live in areas where either the water is polluted and causes disease or the supply is no adequate. In other words, they simply do not have enough water. And while Iraq used to receive an abundance of water from neighboring Turkey flowing through the Tigris river to the tune of 500 cubic meters per second, lately because of various dam projects being built on the river by Turkey, that number is down to 350 cubic meters per second.
As the nation of Iraq tries to recover from the ravages of a 10 year war and internal strife, water is obviously a major issue. With the most abundant source of water, the Tigris, flowing less because of actions by Turkey and added to that fact that it is more polluted in recent years due to the war, this is creating a huge crisis. The reason for more pollution is that due to the consequences of war, there is no one to see to it that the laws forbidding desecration and pollution of the Tigris are enforced. During the reign of Saddam Hussein, even though he was a monster dictator, there was at least an infrastructure to manage and care for the water supply. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.
As the infrastructure continues to be rebuilt in Iraq, some of the ongoing water problem will be fix as part of the crisis is transportation needs, but the major crux of the problem is that there is just not enough water. One of the solutions proposed to solve this crisis is to sip water from Alaska to India, namely India, and then further transport it to the Iraq port city of Umm Qasr which is approximately 35 miles up to mouth of the Khawr az-Zubayr Waterway from the Persian Gulf.
Whether or not this actually happens all depends on many factors, the most expensive of which is the sheer cost of transporting a heavy commodity such as water several thousand miles over the surface of the ocean. At the present time the cost of this is prohibitively expensive, but more efficient ways may be found to move the water such long distances. If the obvious cost problem is overcome, this may be a great investment opportunity for those that are so inclined to be involved in. It does however remain to be seen as to whether this will ever be viable as a mode to solve the water crisis in Iraq. Stay tuned for further updates.
