Near East and North Africa Managing water scarcity.

Near East and North Africa

Managingwater scarcity

Overview

• Major water challenges in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region– The state of water is reaching crisis level.

(What are the major indicators?)

• Key responses to address the water challenges– Major water policy reforms needed– Water-saving technologies in irrigated agriculture– Water-saving technologies in rainfed agriculture

• IFAD’s engagement in addressing water scarcity in NENA

• Key points for discussion

Major Water Challenges in the NENA Region

State of Water in the NENA Region

• NENA is the driest region in the world, with increasing drought frequency and severity.

• With 5% of the world’s population, the region is endowed with only 1% of the world’s accessible freshwater.

• Available surface water is limited and threatened by increasing soil erosion.

• Groundwater is being pumped in excess of natural recharge rates.

State of Water in the NENA Region

Projected water availability is lower than in other water-scarce regions:

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

1980 1995 2010

NENA

Asia

Africa

Cubic

metr

e/p

er

capit

a/p

er

year

State of Water in the NENA Region

• Freshwater availability is falling to crisis levels:

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

1960 1999 2025

Cubic

metr

e/p

er

capit

a/p

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year

State of Water in the NENA Region

• Stress related to water quality and quantity is severe:

HIGH

Algeria – Egypt Iraq – LebanonMorocco – Syria

Tunisia

Jordan West Bank and Gaza

Yemen

LOW

Bahrain – Kuwait Oman – Qatar Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates

LOW H I G H

Water Quantity Severity

Wate

r Q

ualit

y S

everi

ty

State of Water in the NENA Region

Agriculture 78% Industrial 4%Open Water Evaporation 2% Municipal 5%Environmental Flows 10%

Water Sector Uses

State of Water in the NENA Region

• Many people still lack access to safe water:

Population with Water Coverage ('000)

0100002000030000400005000060000700008000090000

100000

Jord

an

Tu

nis

ia

Syri

a

Yem

en

Moro

cco

Alg

eri

a

Egypt

Coverage in 2000 Coverage in 2000-2015 Without coverage in 2015

Total population without coverage: 22.6 million

State of Water in the NENA Region

• In irrigation, cost recovery is low:

Irrigation Operation and Maintenance (O&M)Cost Recovery Ratio

Ratios >1 indicate user repayment not only for O&M but also for capital and replacement costs.

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

Eg

yp

t

Mo

rocco

Ind

ia

Ph

ilip

pin

es

Mexic

o

Au

str

ali

a

Key Responses to Address

the Water Challenges

Major Water Policy Reforms Needed

1. Adopt an integrated approach to water resource management in service delivery:

– Consider water as a holistic resource with competing demands.

– Promote service delivery on the basis of water users’ demand and their repayment capacity.

– Support private and public water service providers that create economic incentives for sustainable water use.

Major Water Policy Reforms Needed

2. Raise water tariffs, without excluding targeted subsidies to the poorest. This is critical to:

– promote savings of water use by increasing tariffs

– set water charges to cover all water infrastructure maintenance costs

– ensure financial sustainability of water service providers (irrigation and drinking)

– save water for ecological reserve and environmental purposes

Major Water Policy Reforms Needed

3. Promote policy reforms to encourage farmers to shift to irrigated crops, which provide higher value per unit of water:

– Priority should be given to crops requiring less water.

– With globalization, the ‘virtual water’ concept becomes an important factor in agricultural trade.

– In NENA, given scarcity of water, promotion of export crop production should not be based on foreign currency needs but driven by the implications for the sustainability of water resources.

Major Water Policy Reforms Needed

4. Adopt a sustainable groundwater use strategy:

– An underground water control by-law should be issued and enforced to regulate the use of groundwater resources based on the following principles:

* Underground water is owned and controlled by the State, and ownership of land does not include ownership of groundwater.

* Extraction and use of underground water is authorized by a license to the landowner.

* The 2002 Jordanian Underground Water Control By-Law is a good example.

Major Water Policy Reforms Needed

5. Decentralize water management responsibility:

– The management of water distribution networks (except primary canals) should be decentralized and turned over to farmers.

– Decentralization should include poor farmers as members of water users’ associations.

– Changes in behavioural and social patterns need to be fostered to conserve water (public awareness).

Major Water Policy Reforms Needed

6. Promote cooperation for sustainable management of transboundary water resources:

– Shared ground and surface water resources need to be jointly assessed and monitored (in terms of quantity and quality).

– Concerted action plans should be adopted for sustainable use of shared water resources.

– The ongoing experience of Algeria, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Tunisia (IFAD-supported programme implemented by the Sahara and Sahelian Observatory [SSO]) is a possible model.

Water-Saving Technologies in Irrigated Agriculture

– Use treated waste water for irrigation (Jordan).

– Increase adoption of new precision irrigation and drainage systems.

– Promote low-cost water-harvesting technologies (Jordan, Tunisia).

– Adopt conservation tillage and planting on raised beds to use irrigation water more efficiently.

– Exploit available technologies for saline water use (recent International Center for Biosaline Agriculture [ICBA] results).

Water-Saving Technologies in Rainfed Agriculture

– Improved small-scale and supplemental irrigation systems can increase productivity of rainfed agriculture.

– More efficient crop sequencing and timely planting can achieve significant savings in water use.

– New crop varieties, requiring less water, are being developed by research institutions, and some are already available.

IFAD’s Engagement in Addressing Water Scarcity in NENA

• Promoting sustainable water use and access to water by the rural poor is an IFAD regional strategic objective:

– IFAD loans targeting small-scale irrigation, rainfed farming and rural potable water supply schemes are:

• promoting the latest available technologies for improving water-use efficiency

• involving the rural poor in water governance through grass-roots water users’ associations

IFAD’s Engagement in Addressing Water Scarcity in NENA

– IFAD regional grants aim at generating and testing new approaches in the sustainable water management. Examples are:

• action research on participatory irrigation management programme (International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies [CIHEAM])

• use of brackish and saline water (Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Drylands [ACSAD] and ICBA)

• On farm water harvesting (ICARDA)

• facilitating of collaboration on transboundary water (SSO)

• capacity-building for management of water demand (International Development Research Centre [IDRC])

Key Points for Discussion

• What are the most critical policy measures needed to enhance water-use efficiency at the farm level?

• To what extent can water prices be increased to fully cover O&M costs?

• How can pro-poor and participatory water governance in irrigation and potable water supply be promoted in rural areas?

• How can cooperation be enhanced in managing transboundary water resources?