According to scientists from Canada and the Netherlands, the world is depleting underground water reserves faster than they can be replenished

In the Middle East, water shortages are a widely accepted reality which many countries are trying to fight head on. Worldwide, however, the issue is not so pressing with environmental issues such as energy and emissions taking centre stage. Despite this, new research from McGill University in Montreal and Utrecht University in the Netherlands indicates that the world is increasingly dependent on an unsustainable supply of groundwater. They estimate that the world’s ‘water footprint’, which is defined as the area above ground required to sustain groundwater use, is about 3.5 times the actual area of the available aquifers. And this has huge implications not only on water supplies but for food and political security too.

Combining data from around the world, the research team has been able to measure the amount of water available and the water usage. The result which Tom Gleeson from McGill called ‘sobering’ indicate global overexploitation of groundwater in a number of regions across Asia and North America. The study suggests that around 1.7 billion people – mostly in Asia – are living in areas where underground water reserves are under threat. That means that we humans as well as the vast ecosystems that water supports, are blindly walking into crisis.

The areas that the research showed were under most stress include Saudi Arabia, Iran, northern India and parts of northern China. In the US, the areas included western Mexico, the High Plains and California’s Central Valley. The overexploitation of groundwater supplies in countries such as China, the US and India is linked to their global scale production of food.

“The relatively few aquifers that are being heavily exploited are unfortunately critical to agriculture in a number of different countries,” Tom Gleeson told Reuters. “So even though the number is relatively small, these are critical resources that need better management.”

The study found that Saudi Arabia had substantially depleted its own aquifers (as has Iran), which is why the country is buying up land in Africa to help ensure food security. However, it is not all bad news. According to the data gathered, groundwater depletion isn’t a worldwide problem and 80 percent of aquifers around the world aren’t being depleted. For example, some of the largest reserves of groundwater are under North African countries like Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Sudan and these haven’t been over-exploited yet.

The biggest scheme to get to this water was Libya’s $25 billion Great Manmade River project, built by the dictator Muammar Gaddafi to supply cities including Tripoli, Benghazi and Sirte with an estimated 6.5 million cubic meters of water a day. The problem is that once this water is taken out of these aquifers, it is not replenished and so the need to control our consumption of water is still a pressing issue.

Authors of the study suggest that limits on water extraction, more efficient irrigation and the promotion of diets with less meat (or no meat at all) could make water resources more sustainable.

: Reuters and NatGeo

: Photo of Khajoo bridge over Zayandeh river at dusk with lights, Isfahan, Iran via Shutterstock.com

For more on water in the Middle East see:

Severe Water Scarcity could hit Arab Region by 2012

African Land Grab Continues – Middle East is Major Buyer

Middle East Water Woes Beg for Environmental Solutions

The post Saudi Arabia & Iran Are Overexploiting Their Groundwater Supplies appeared first on Green Prophet.

No water in my house last week in Amman, Jordan and I’m mildly freaked: I’d just taken delivery on some giant bottles for our water cooler, and I was up to speed on laundry. But no water means no cleaning. Not much cooking happening either.  And let’s not talk on the toilet issue.

Residential cut-offs are commonplace in Amman, but for me it’s a first.  I’m unnerved.  Not so much by the apartment’s micro-drought (I’d cope for a few days, no 127 Days crisis looms).  I’m edgy because my First-World-Barbie belief that tells me when I turn a knob, clear water will pour forth –– is seriously flawed.

I’ve never experienced an instance when household water failed to act on my command.  I make it cold or hot,  get it flowing in forceful jets or delicate sprays. Seems I have a bit of a Moses complex when it comes to controlling water, but when it comes to accessing clean stuff when needed, shouldn’t we all?

Set aside that divining rod.  Unlace your rain dance shoes.  Purified drinking water can now be directly produced from the humidity in the atmosphere.  This isn’t pipe dream,  Rube Goldberg contraptions not required. Unlimited, pure drinking water can be pulled from the air for an investment of less than $2,000 bucks.

An eight-mile swath of free floating moisture encases the globe; an untapped resource for us to stick a straw into. Atmospheric water trumps the amount of liquid in the oceans.  Compared to ground sources, water extracted directly from the air is relatively clean.

EcoloBlue Atmospheric Water Generators (AWGs) are now available in Jordan. The device produces unlimited drinking water by extracting humidity out of the air, then condensing it to water.  The sky-water is stored in the system’s main storage tank, where it runs through an hourly 12-step filtration process to remove chemicals and particulates.

When water’s consumed from the machine, it refills itself automatically. It comes in three versions (one makes sparkling water) that work with any power source, including solar, wind and gas powered generators, rendering the hydration system both sustainable and portable.

They’re also being marketed as an antidote to plastic water bottles (eliminating demand for both grab-and-go mini bottles and the larger refills for water coolers) and as a safe alternative for everyone tethered to dodgy municipal water lines. AWGs can be easily “plugged in” to existing plumbing, allowing its filtration system to clean tap water of harmful chemicals, and common pollutants such as arsenic, trace prescription drugs, bacteria and human hormones.

Gizmos like this can cut demand on municipal water usage by 90 percent.

Water harvesting systems that are self-sustaining, energy efficient and eliminate plastic bottles are a marvelous reality, but they don’t let us off the ethical hook of unsustainable consumption patterns.

Water shortfalls are rampant in the Middle East.  The 2011 Green Economy in a Changing Arab World Report released by the Arab Forum for Environment and Development states, “An annual per capita water share below 1,000 cubic meters poses a significant constraint to economic development, health and well-being; below 500 cubic meters, and water scarcity becomes a threat to life.”

Green Prophet reported that the Jordan-Arab region could face severe water crisis in the next three years, when annual per capita water share may fall to less than 500 cubic meters, leaving us with less than one tenth of the average world citizen’s share of the wet stuff:. Over 45 million people in Arab nations lack access to clean water.  It’s unlikely they’ll be rushing to buy AWGs, unless, as with clean cookstoves, prices to produce and deliver the units becomes economically sensible.

Let’s get active on water use reduction; it’s easy to do.

Look at your water consumption.  See your patterns of usage: don’t judge, just view them. Become aware of your daily waltz through the wet stuff. Next, pick a few low-hanging opportunities for conservation.  The behavioral ones are simple and free.

Cut back your showers by a minute or two. Create your own grey-water recycling program: rinse veggies and fruits in a pot of water instead of a running tap, then recycle the liquid to water your plants. Sweep dusty paths and stairways instead of hosing them down.  Only run clothes- and dish-washers when they’re full.

Stay out of the bathtub. Reuse your towels. Keep taps open only to as needed: don’t run faucets awaiting the perfect temperature or to create background music to your teeth brushing.  And, Amman car owners: could you relax on the thrice-weekly car washes? Drop a few bucks on water conserving shower heads.  Lay down some drip-irrigation tubing to keep your gardens green.

It takes 1500 liters of water to produce 1 kg of wheat, but it takes 15,000 liters to produce 1kg of beef.  So skip the steak, add a few meat-free menus to your diet. Poke around the Green Prophet archives to find excellent tips on choosing food with positive water impact.

My water-scare is a wake-up call I’ll happily share with you.   So what are you doing to save water?

Image of via 3336

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