Journal of Earth Science & Climatic Change
Open Access

Abstract

The Arab region is experiencing one of the fastest growing water deficits in the world. The majority of the countries in the region have been consuming more water than their renewable supply for quite some time. However, this is no longer an option due to its high costs and negative environmental consequences that have been leading to a vicious cycle linking deteriorating status of water resources, in terms of quantity and quality to deteriorating livelihoods in the region. As a matter of fact, societies in the Arab region have been suffering for a long time from serious capacity gaps at various levels that hinder their ability to face social, economic and political challenges facing the management of their water resources. The general lack of familiarity with participatory and integrated management approaches; fragmented institutional structures with conflicting mandates; inadequate valuation and pricing; imbalanced sectoral water allocation; persistence in resorting to expensive supply augmentation projects and delegation of responsibility without the necessary devolution of power and financial resources in decentralization plans are some of the problems facing effective water governance in the Arab region. The Arab region represents 10% of the world's area; its population represents 5% of world population. However, it possesses only 0.5% of the world's renewable fresh water resources. This is due to the fact that the arid and semi-arid weather dominates 82.2% of the whole region. Rainfall precipitation is estimated to be 2,228 billion cubic meters (Bern). The losses amount to 90.4% due to evaporation. The Arab region, which is home to 5 percent of the world's people contains less than 1 percent of the world's annual renewable freshwater. The water demand in the region is growing fast and the population has more than doubled in the past 30 years to about 280 million and could double again in the next 30 years. Thus, water demand for domestic and industrial uses has exploded in recent decades. At the same time, tube-well technology and the development of agriculture have increased water use in rural areas.

Biography

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