The rapid increase in freshwater abstraction for rural water supply and the different uses that have emerged with population development have triggered real clashes over water resources within and between nations. To a certain extent, water disputes arise from the sharing of new water between nations and regions: 263 transboundary river basins share water resources.
At least 20 countries receive water from transnational watercourses, and 14 countries receive at least 70% of their surface water from waterways outside their borders. For example, Egypt gets 97% of its new water from the Nile River, the second longest on the planet, which is also shared by ten nations. Undoubtedly, the Nile River is used to such an extent that the new water reaching the Mediterranean Sea during some parts of the year is almost zero.
In addition, human populations in the Middle East are growing rapidly, some of them multiplying over the past 20-25 years, adding further weight to the turbulent political atmosphere.
Providing satisfactory quantities of clean fresh water for people and their various physical activities has all the hallmarks of being an unsolved problem worldwide.
If other rivalries for water resources within localities and between nations continue to escalate, this will also affect basic freshwater supplies for individual and farm use. Indeed, even now, freshwater supplies for nutrient creation and other human needs are diminishing due to increasing demands and disappearing inside and outside of rarely dry areas.
Especially in these areas, where groundwater resources are the main sources of water, future agriculture, mechanical and urban water use must be carefully considered to counteract aquifer depletion.
I propose the concomitant need to use water wisely:
- Since agriculture consumes 70% of the world’s fresh water, ranchers should be the primary focus of motivation for water conservation.
- Ranchers should actualize water-saving water supply systems, such as drip water systems, to reduce water waste.
- Thus, farmers should mainstream water and soil protection practices, such as covering crops and product turnover, to limit rapid water spillage associated with soil decay.
- Governments should reduce or eliminate water sponsorships that support inefficient water use by farmers, industry, and the general population.
- Governments and private enterprises should implement the World Bank’s (2003) policy for sound assessment of new water.
- Policymakers and directors should ensure that water protection in forests, wetlands, and native biological communities is improved.
- Governments and private industry must control water pollution to ensure the common good, agribusiness and the Earth.