Water Challenges and Cooperative Response in the Middle East and North Africa

Based on a meeting at the Stimson Center, Washington, USA, May 2012, the Brookings report «Water Challenges and Cooperative Response in the Middle East and North Africa» first provides a brief overview of available water resources in the Middle East and Northern African region. It then discusses the salient socio-economic and environmental stresses and trends that will drive and condition water supply and demand over the coming decades. Next, the report sketches prevailing water management approaches that are being developed or might be brought to bear.

2012.11_Water_Challenges_Response_MENAWith this foundation in place, the report then seeks to illuminate the water governance policy options and obstacles confronting the region by examining three case studies: the Tigris-Euphrates basin, the Nile basin, and a side-by-side consideration of water stewardship in Yemen and Oman. Finally, the report concludes by presenting some recommendations suggesting strategies for the MENA countries to build their water management capabilities and bolster collaborative alternatives to managing scarce water resources at both the domestic and regional levels.

Significant areas for policy innovation, mutual capacity-building, sharing of data and best practices, joint benchmarking and standard setting, and technical cooperation include:
• Prioritizing conservation and demand management, especially in the
  agricultural sector.
• Mitigating unchecked groundwater pumping.
• Recognizing the impact of ongoing urbanization and increasing urban water
  demands, and implementing water-management policies accordingly.
• Building public and policymaker awareness of the prevalence and impacts of
  increasingly water-intensive lifestyles.
• Pursuing research and development in desalination and wastewater reuse while
  appreciating that these technologies will not offer a panacea.

 

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