As war looms over West Asia, many of its major water bodies are already on the brink

April 15, 2024
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN Topics

No Comments

As war looms over West Asia, many of its major water bodies are already on the brink

Subject: IR

Section: Places in news

Context:

Tensions have escalated sharply in West Asia, highlighted by Iran’s missile attack on Israel on the night of April 13-14, 2024.

Details:

The region also faces an acute water crisis. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), holding only 1% of the world’s renewable freshwater but 5% of its population, is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions globally.
This scarcity is aggravated by rising temperatures and ongoing desertification, impacting security and stability.

Cradle of civilization no more:

West Asia, once the cradle of ancient civilizations like Mesopotamia, is now facing severe water crises due to anthropogenic activities and historical conflicts.
The Tigris and Euphrates rivers, essential to historical civilizations such as Assyria, Akkad, Sumer, and Babylon, are threatened by upstream dam constructions by Iraq’s neighbours, Turkey and Iran.
Additionally, environmental damage from past policies, such as the drainage of southern Iraq’s marshes under Saddam Hussein, exacerbates the situation.
Similarly, the Jordan River basin, crucial for Jordan, Syria, and Israel, faces challenges despite existing treaties for water sharing. These treaties overlook Palestinian interests and fail to address the diminishing Dead Sea, underscoring the broader water crises in the region.

Iranian Plateau:

Iran faces severe internal challenges from a burgeoning water crisis, leading to significant protests and instability.
The Zayandeh Rud protests in 2021 were sparked by the drying up of the river due to diversion and mismanagement, affecting the city of Isfahan and its surrounding areas.
- The Zayandeh River, which ends in Lake Gavkhouni near the fabled city of Isfahan, began to dry up in the early 2000s
Additionally, tensions over water resources extend beyond domestic issues, involving cross-border disputes with Afghanistan over the Helmand River, which have escalated to violent confrontations.
The strategic location of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf further complicates regional dynamics, as they are crucial choke points in global supply chains.

Water bodies	Description
Tigris River	The Tigris is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Taurus in Turkey, then through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, emptying into the Persian Gulf. Major cities on the river basin: Elazığ (Turkey), Diyarbakır (Turkey), Mosul (Iraq), Baghdad (Iraq).
Euphrates River	The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab in Iraq, which empties into the Persian Gulf. The Euphrates is the fifteenth-longest river in Asia and the longest in Western Asia, at about 2,780 km (1,730 mi), with a drainage area of 440,000 km2 (170,000 sq mi) that covers six countries.
Jordan River	The Jordan River, also known as Nahr Al-Sharieat is a 251-kilometre-long (156 mi) river in the Middle East that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and onto the Dead Sea. Jordan and the Golan Heights border the river to the east, while Israel and the occupied West Bank lie to the west. Both Jordan and the West Bank derive their names in relation to the river. The river holds major significance in Judaism and Christianity. According to the Bible, the Israelites crossed it into the Promised Land and Jesus of Nazareth was baptized by John the Baptist in it.
Helmand River	The Helmand River is the longest river in Afghanistan and the primary watershed for the endorheic Sistan Basin. It originates in the Sanglakh Range of the Hindu Kush mountains in the northeastern part of Maidan Wardak Province, where it is separated from the watershed of the Kabul River by the Unai Pass. The Helmand feeds into the Hamun Lake on the border between Afghanistan and Iran.
Zayandeh River	The Zayandeh River originates in the Zagros mountains, and travels around 300 km, before terminating in Gavkhouni. It is the largest river of the Iranian Plateau in central Iran.
Lake Gavkhouni	Gavkhouni or Batlaq-e-Gavkhuni, located in the Iranian Plateau in central Iran, east of the city of Isfahan, is the terminal basin of the Zayandeh River. Gavkhouni is a salt marsh with a salinity of 31.5% and an average depth of about 1 m. The marshes were designated a Ramsar site in 1975, the 19th wetland in Iran designated as a Wetland of International Importance on the Ramsar list. The wetland is home to a variety of migratory birds including flamingos, ducks, geese, gulls, pelicans, and grebes. The vegetation of the area is very specialised; there are no green plants and trees around the lake due to soil salinity, but in the wetland, different species such as reeds, cattail, Schoenoplectus, pondweeds and various algae grow.
Lake Hāmūn	Lake Hāmūn or the Hamoun Oasis, is a seasonal lake and wetlands in the endorheic Sīstān Basin in the Sistan region on the Afghanistan–Iran border. In Iran, it is also known as Hāmūn-e Helmand, Hāmūn-e Hīrmand, or Daryācheh-ye Sīstān. The Hamun is fed by numerous seasonal water tributaries; the main tributary is the perennial Helmand River, which originates in the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan.
Dead Sea	The Dead Sea, also known by other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Israel to the west. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River.

Source: DTE