Water in the Middle East
Geography: KS3, topic 19.1.5
Water
Several countries in the Middle East have invested in desalination plants to increase access to water for its citizens.
Water scarcity
- While the Middle East might be rich in oil and natural gas reserves it has significant water scarcity amongst the countries.
- One of the key reasons for the lack of water resources is the population boom in many of the Middle East countries, resulting in a rise in demand for domestic purposes.
River
- The River Euphrates and Tigris are key sources of water for Turkey, Syria and Iraq.
- The damning of the river by Turkey upstream has created water shortages and reduction in quality for Syria and Iraq.
- This has caused numerous conflicts between the countries to resolve the continued water problems.
Desalination
- Saudi Arabia uses desalination for an estimated 70% of their total water requirements and 18% of global production in the world.
- In 2015, the country was purifying an estimated 1.3 billion cubic metres of water each year.
Saudi Arabia
- In 2018, Saudi Arabia has announced plans to produce a further 9 desalination plants, costing more than $530 billion and an anticipated production capacity of 240,00 cubic metres of water a day.
Test yourself on Water in the Middle East
What has significantly contributed to the lack of water in recent years?
How many more desalination plants does Saudi Arabia plan to create?