# will the lack of water increase the conflict level i the Middle-East ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 9, 2006, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-lack-of-water-increase-the-conflict-level-i-the-middle-east/356041 "2006-05-09T11:16:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Minotaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Minotaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minotaurus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-lack-of-water-increase-the-conflict-level-i-the-middle-east/356041/1 "2006-05-09T11:16:46Z")
It’s not just the Middle-East that the water level is sinking dramatically, but also places like USA, Mexico, North-Africa, India and China - but the danger of an increased conflict seams to be most imminent in the Middle-east and it’s surroundings the size of The dead Sea is today only 10% of i original size the water-level in the Aral-sea have sunk with 16 meters since 1962 the ground water in Jerusalem sinks 7 meters every year … and the urge for water is increasing every year in the region… and elsewhere what do you think ? ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-lack-of-water-increase-the-conflict-level-i-the-middle-east/356041/2 "2006-05-09T11:36:30Z")
I think that technology will catch up sooner rather than later and we’ll sort it out. [Desalination technology](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desalination) is becoming more advanced and requiring less energy. Once we develop a desalination process that solely uses solar power then we’re golden. -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-lack-of-water-increase-the-conflict-level-i-the-middle-east/356041/3 "2006-05-09T12:02:34Z")
[QUOTE=Minotaurus] the size of The dead Sea is today only 10% of i original size … what do you think ? [/QUOTE] For a start I think you are confusing water inflow level with the actual size of the lake. Surface area of the Dead Sea has apparently decreased by 1/3, which is very, very bad but not as catastrophic as you indicate. And I think governments everywhere will come to the realisation that giving farmers cheap water to grow cotton, corn, lettuces and whatnot in the middle of deserts is a really really really stupid idea. The real problem isn’t water availability, but poor management and inadequate capital for investment in water-efficiency. If no-one can afford drip irrigation or desalination, then squabbling with the neighbours over theri water becomes a more attractive option. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-lack-of-water-increase-the-conflict-level-i-the-middle-east/356041/4 "2006-05-09T13:07:05Z")
There certainly has been plenty of talk on this issue. From this [article](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/764142.stm) > [@](#): > > As Meir Ben Meir, Israel’s Water Commissioner prepared for retirement, he painted a gloomy picture of possible conflict over water between Israel, the Palestinians, Jordan and Syria…“I can promise that if there is not sufficient water in our region, if there is scarcity of water, if people remain thirsty for water, then we shall doubtless face war.” Also, a policy paper from the Clinton administration predicted that water would surpass oil as a source of conflict in the Middle East during the 21st century. ---
**Author:** ![Minotaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Minotaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minotaurus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-lack-of-water-increase-the-conflict-level-i-the-middle-east/356041/5 "2006-05-09T13:39:06Z")
Dead Sea ‘to disappear by 2050’ > **[BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Dead Sea 'to disappear by 2050'](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1472842.stm)** > > Environmentalists in Jordan warn that the Dead Sea will disappear within 50 years if its level continues to drop at the current rate. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-lack-of-water-increase-the-conflict-level-i-the-middle-east/356041/6 "2006-05-09T16:59:35Z")
[QUOTE=madmonk28] There certainly has been plenty of talk on this issue. From this [article](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/764142.stm) [/QUOTE] That article is very much out of date - in the six years since it was published Israel has taken some important steps in water conservation and desalinization activity. I can’t give you numbers, but I know that the Israeli media has been producing much fewer dire warnings about the upcoming catastrophe in the nation’s water supply than it used to in the past, which is as good an indicator as any. Can’t tell you anything about the neighbours, though.