Middle East Rivers Losing Critical Water Reserves

Water shortages and secrecy over how much is used will only exacerbate tensions in the Middle East. Researchers, in the journal Water Resources Research, report a rapid decline of freshwater in the Middle East region. Lee Rannals of redOrbit.com reports on the University of California’s Center for Hydrologic Modeling study that relied on NASA satellite images to show that most of the loss in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran is due to groundwater depletion with some due to drought: “Using NASA’s twin Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites helped the team assess the entire Tigris-Euphrates-Western Iran region.” Some countries refuse to monitor their water use or they keep data a secret. The researchers hope that countries will make more data available and also pursue water agreements. Cross-border collaboration on water use in dry regions is essential, suggests the research team from University of California, Irvine, or sustainability of water resources will be impossible. – YaleGlobal