Water Scarcity in the Middle East: Regional Cooperation as a Mechanism Toward Peace

Chairman Hyde and other Members of the International Relations Committee, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss water scarcity, particularly in the Middle East. I would like to briefly address water availability in general, transboundary water disputes, and our diplomatic engagement.

The Global Water Situation

The statistics are stark. Today an estimated 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water; 2.4 billion lack access to basic sanitation. Each year, over 3 billion people suffer from water related diseases resulting in 3-5 million deaths -- most in children under five. The economic impact of the health related aspects related to unsafe water is estimated at $380 billion per year. In agrarian-based developing countries (countries that often lack water storage capacity), GDP often correlates directly to rainfall -- when there is rain, the economy prospers; during droughts, it falters. In some countries water mismanagement and water pollution can reduce GDP by more than 2% -- enough to keep a country in poverty, or if remedied, set it on a path towards economic growth. Water related disasters between 1992 and 2001 in developing countries accounts for 20% of the total number of natural disasters and over 50% of the all disaster fatalities.

As populations continue to grow and current freshwater sources degrade, conditions are expected to worsen. The CIA reports that, by 2015, nearly half of the world’s population will live in countries that are water-stressed (i.e., have less than 1,700 cubic meters per capita per year). These data have not been lost on the international community. In 2000, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Millennium Declaration -- agreeing to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the world’s population who are unable to reach or afford safe drinking water. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg in 2000, countries similarly agreed to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the world’s population without access to basic sanitation.

To address these issues, Secretary of State Powell launched the “Water for the Poor” initiative at WSSD. The 970 million dollar, three year, initiative is focused on increasing access to drinking water and sanitation, improving watershed management, and promoting productive water use in agriculture and industry. Some of the approaches under this initiative show considerable promise: The Safe Water System -- a market-based approach for developing and distributing technologies for disinfecting water at the household level. Coupled with social marketing and hygiene education, these systems can significantly reduce diarrheal disease and, in some cases, achieve full cost recovery. Development Credit -- partial loan guarantees to support local capital investment in water and wastewater treatment infrastructure. These mechanisms can significantly leverage U.S. support and help develop and strengthen local capital markets. Water management plans -- working on a country-by-country basis to facilitate the development of integrated water resources management plans to optimize the benefits of water among competing uses. In FY03 alone, USAID estimates that U.S. work on water resulted in more than 19 million people gaining improved access to water and sanitation. We are working to build support for these approaches through several international fora including the World Water Forum, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, and the G8.

Transboundary Waters

Ensuring adequate supplies of water for human consumption, agriculture, energy and industry is, in many cases, a regional issue. More than 260 river basins are shared by two or more countries. These shared basins are the home to more than 40% of the world’s population. Historically, water has rarely, if ever, been the sole cause for war. To the contrary, water has often been a source of cooperation. Even during times of war, countries have abided by existing water agreements and often continued payments. Discussions over water have often built goodwill and provided a basis for regional dialogue on other issues. That said, the CIA has identified several basins throughout the world where future water conditions and the emerging geopolitical environment may lead to increasing tensions including the Nile, Jordan, Tigris-Euphrates, and Indus.

In 2001, the Secretary of State launched an action plan on transboundary water designed to improve conservation and management of water resources, mitigate tensions associated with shared waters, and use water, where appropriate, as a diplomatic tool to build trust and promote cooperation in those places where other tools might not be available. As a first step, the Department of State with the CIA hosted a workshop with government, military and non-government experts to identify key regions “at risk”. We then worked, in close cooperation with our USAID colleagues, to build programmatic and diplomatic activities to support increased cooperation on shared waters in many of these regions.

Transboundary water disputes are extremely complex, deeply rooted in history, and often take years to decades to resolve. These problems involve sovereignty, individual and collective rights, economic growth and power. These are also extremely technical issues that require an understanding of water flows (both above and below ground), water quality, needs, and uses. Establishing a framework for the management of shared water resources often means defining who gets what water under what conditions and what constitutes harm or damage should one country pollute waters that may impact another. Often, the first step is years of building trust and cooperation through joint capacity building and information sharing. Over time, the conversations can become more regularized and substantive -- covering a range of water-related issues including health, energy, agriculture, and trade.

The Department is directly or indirectly supporting work in several basins throughout the world. My NEA colleague David Satterfield has discussed our work in the Jordan River Basin. I would like to give you a few examples of what we are doing in Africa -- a region where several basins are coming under increasing pressure and are going to be critically important to regional growth and stability.

The Okavango River originates in Angola and flows through Namibia into Botswana where it terminates in the Okavango delta - one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. Preserving the ecosystem is important, as is meeting the growing needs for water in all three countries. Considerable benefits could be derived from strengthened basin-wide planning and management. The United States has helped catalyze regional dialogue to build trust and establish a foundation for regional initiatives. In 2001, the United States hosted a study tour for government representatives of the Okavango River Basin Commission (OKACOM). The tour demonstrated U.S. water management practices, including our cooperative institutions with Mexico and Canada, and created a shared experience that brought the countries closer together. Due, in part, to these efforts, the countries have re-established regularized meetings of OKACOM and are now discussing several joint initiatives. Many challenges remain, but the countries are working together in a productive fashion and several donors are engaging to protect the human and environmental needs of the Okavango basin.

Seven of the 10 countries within the Nile Basin have been at war with themselves or their neighbors within the past 10 years. Six out of the ten countries are among the ten poorest in the world. For many, water is a scarce resource key to economic growth and development. Egypt, the downstream riparian, is particularly dependent on the Nile and views access to Nile waters as a national security priority. (Egypt has a 1959 agreement with Sudan that established specific water rights. No such agreement exists among all 10 of the Nile riparian countries.) Cooperation is critical to optimizing the potential benefits of the river system among the competing needs. The riparians recognize this and have recently launched the Nile Basin Initiative to develop a framework for joint management of the basin’s resources as well as bi-lateral, sub-regional and regional development projects.

Consistent with restrictions on aid to countries in the basin, the United States has supported the regional dialogue components of the Nile Basin Initiative through the United Nations Development Program. The United States also hosted a study tour for the recently established secretariat of the Nile Basin Initiative to build its capacity. The work is conducted in partnership with the World Bank and several other donors active in the region. Several U.S. agencies including USAID and the Department of the Interior are involved. These efforts are beginning to show promise. Through the Nile Basin Initiative, the Nile countries have defined a shared vision for the development of the basin and have developed several joint projects. The countries have also been discussing a new legal framework. The United Nations Convention on the Law of Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses has been helpful in this regard.

Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1997, the Convention provides a framework for managing shared waters -- in other words, it articulates “principles” that should be followed but leaves the derivation of specific obligations from these “principals” to the riparian countries. Thirty-five countries must ratify the Convention for it to enter into force. To date, 16 countries have become signatories -- 12 of these have ratified the convention. In the case of the Nile, the riparian countries used the Convention as a starting point to frame their discussions.

These are just two examples. The Department, in partnership with USAID and other U.S. agencies, is actively engaged in basins throughout the world. We have also established the Global Water Alliance, a group of donors that meet informally to share experiences and further diplomatic and development cooperation on transboundary rivers. These efforts complement U.S. engagement with a broad array of international organizations, financial institutions and intergovernmental organizations that address water issues.

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