Student assignment directions:
Your assignment is to learn more about the water crisis as it affects
Middle Eastern countries. You have a “5-4-3-2-1” study guide where
you will show what you have learned.
Where will you get your information? From this powerpoint and
from the “Water in Crisis” article you have been given in class. Here
is a link to the article, too. http://thewaterproject.org/water-incrisis-middle-east.php
The Jordan River provides 75 percent of
Jordan's water and 60 percent of Israel's.
In the early 1960s, Arab nations worked
to divert the headwaters of the Jordan
away from Israel and towards Jordan.
One of Israel's objectives in the ArabIsraeli Six Day War of 1967, among
others, was to control the Golan Heights
and prevent this plan from being carried
out. Israel is still reluctant to restore
control of the Golan Heights to Syria.
Though often ignored in Western
analyses, water is one of the most
contentious issues in the discussion of
any peace plan for the Jordan Valley.
In recent years, Israeli withdrawls of
water from the Jordan River have
contributed to the decline in the level of
the Dead Sea.
The Jordan River
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/video/blog/2010/10/a_struggle_for_water_resources.htm
l Click here to see a video about the conflict over the Jordan River. (optional)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/questions/resource/
An agreement in 2013 between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority provides
a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. This pipeline would take wastewater from
a desalination plant at the Gulf of Aqaba and link it to the Dead Sea.
This could help the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians if all
parties have greater access to water. The Dead Sea level would also rise. Some
Palestinians, however, are angry they would have to buy more water rather than
receiving their fair share from the Jordan River.
The Jordan
River, continued
http://www.trust.org/item/20131216154511-axhon/
http://www.trust.org/item/20131216154511-axhon/
The Euphrates River, which originates in
The
Turkey, provides most of the water for eastern
Syria and almost all of Iraq. Turkey plans to
build almost two dozen hydroelectric power
dams for its growing population and
industries. These dams, joining the completed
Atatürk Dam, would drastically reduce the
water available to Syria and Iraq. Syria, in
turn, has dammed part of the Euphrates
under its control, further choking off the
water supply to Iraq. International complaints
and protests are often challenged on the
grounds that the dams are domestic
infrastructure projects
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/questions/resource/
Euphrates River
The Nile River
A treaty was drawn up by the British in 1959. That treaty had given Egypt 55.5 cubic
kilometers of the river’s flow and Sudan 18.5 cubic kilometers, but no formal entitlements
for any nation upstream.
In May, 2010, five upstream Nile nations — Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda
— signed a treaty declaring their rights to a share of the river’s flow. In the past, Egypt has
frequently said any attempt by upstream nations to take what it regarded as Egyptian water
would result in war. Egypt’s biggest concern is Ethiopia, whose Lake Tana is the source of the
largest of the river’s two main tributaries, the Blue Nile, and whose own 80 million
inhabitants have heavy unmet water needs, especially for irrigation.
Egypt’s Aswan High Dam
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/questions/resource/
Construction of a dam upstream in Ethiopia
Syria
Syria is in the midst of a civil war, resulting in
many refugees forced to leave their homes.
This shows a Syrian boy, who fled with his
family from the violence in their village, carries
a plastic container as he walks to fill it with
water at a camp in the Syrian village of Atma.
(Photo: AP)
Some water
trivia about
Minnesota
Total Area Covered by
Lakes and Rivers (deep
water):
2,560,299 acres
Total surface water area
including wetlands:
13,136,357 acres
Number of lakes:
11,842 (10+ acres)
Number of natural rivers and
streams:
6,564 (69,200 miles)
Wetlands acreage present in 1850:
18.6 million acres
Wetlands acreage present in 2008:
10.6 million acres
Minnesota River length:
370 miles
Mississippi River length in Minnesota:
680 miles
http://geology.com/state-map/maps/minnesota-rivers-map.gif
So does Minnesota have any water problems?
1. A turkey farm near Willmar sucked down the local aquifer so a local resident’s water
turned black.
2. Hibbing – one of 3 city wells has dried up. To keep mining in the area and the jobs
that it brings, much of the local water has been used up.
3. White Bear Lake is shrinking.
4. **Demand across the state exceeds replenishment from rain/snow. Why? Demand
from homes, ethanol production, population growth, and irrigation.
http://www.startribune.com/local/192783461.html
Know these 3 reasons water relates to conflict!!
Summary – 3 reasons water relates to global conflict:
1. Control of water resources – If one country doesn’t have access to a water
resource it shares with another country.
2. Military – Water systems are used as a tool of war. Example: An enemy poisons
the water supply of its opponent.
3. Terrorism – Water systems used as terrorist tool. Example: A terrorist group
threatens a country if it doesn’t get its way.