Future Wars in Mideast Probably on Water: Iranian Diplomat.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister says the water crisis in the Middle East is getting worse and more serious day by day so much so that “probably the future wars in this region would be on water.” Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi says the issue of water, water resources, coping with water scarcity, as well as the use of common water areas have always been top on the agenda of Iran’s foreign ministry.
“In the past few decades, water has become a global concern and in line with it, Water Diplomacy and a science called Water Policy or Hydropolitics have come into existence, and they are currently being taught in some of the world’s leading universities,” Araqchi stressed in a Farsi interview with ISNA on water diplomacy.
“In recent years, water and its scarcity has turned into a sensitive and serious issue in our country, and has even become a security concern.” “Considering the importance of this issue, the foreign ministry has tried to focus more on water diplomacy.
In response to a question on the lack of freshwater in the Middle East, he said it is possible to see a water conflict in the region in the near future.
“Water war is not a new issue; it has always existed and has been considered for years as a serious threat in the Middle East.
This situation will become much worse by 2050, and water scarcity next to drought will become a very serious issue for Middle Eastern countries, including Iran,” he said.
Araqchi also underlined that even some parts of Iran may be completely or largely abandoned because of this issue.
This official added that there are two solutions regarding this global crisis.
In response to a question on how it is possible to provide water from abroad, he said such ideas exist in Iran as well, but how physically these ideas can be operational is another issue.

Aradi: In yet another case of rural neglect, people of Palatpur village in Nandapur panchayat under Chandbali block in Bhadrak district, are compelled to drink contaminated water.
The village has a population of 1000, but they suffer a lot in the absence of basic amenities like road and drinking water.
Adding to their woes are periodical natural calamities when high tides inundate the village and turn the soil saline.
After recent cyclones, the drinking water problem has become more acute, locals said.
Endorsing their grievance, ward member Manoranjan Bhoi said, “Drinking water has been scarce.
The village has three tube wells, but one of them is not working.
Though the surroundings are nauseating, we have no way but to use the tube well water for drinking, cooking and bathing,” the residents said.
The villagers said that use of such dirty water is a major health problem.
The villagers demanded setting up of two more tube wells besides repairing the existing ones and a drinking water project at Palatpur.
He assured that steps would be taken to repair the tube wells and if necessary, new tube wells will be set up.

Pakistan could be facing a severe drought soon according to country experts, who have warned that the country will approach “absolute scarcity” levels of water by 2025.
Pakistan has the world’s fourth highest rate of water use but is largely dependent on water from the Indus River basin.
An estimated million people live in Karachi but very few have running water after the land has gradually dried up, forcing locals in some areas to queue for hours for supplies to be given to them.
“Because of this absentee landlordism, water has become the property of the landlords and the poor are deprived of their share.” Experts say that population growth and urbanisation are the main reasons behind the crisis while some believe that the issue has been exacerbated by climate change and poor water management.
According to Irfan Choudhry, energy sector expert, the authorities appear to lack the political will to tackle the problem.
Water crisis may soon hit major Pakistan cities “There are no proper water storage facilities in the country.
Pakistan hasn’t built new dams since the 1960s.
The authorities need to act now.
We can store water for only 30 days, and it is worrisome,” he said.
With only 494mm of precipitation per year, Pakistan is already one of the wettest countries in the world, according to the World Bank.

Report: Pakistan could face mass droughts by 2025.
(Web Desk) – Pakistani experts have warned that the country could face drought in the near future.
Experts have further warned that the country will approach “absolute scarcity” level of water by 2025.
According to the Independent, a report by The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) states that Pakistan touched the “water stress line” in 1990 before crossing the “water scarcity” in 2005.
An unnamed government official said that an urgent research is needed to find the solution – but warned that the country’s government lacks sufficient funds.
Pakistan ranks fourth in the world for its highest rate of water usage, but is dependent on water from a single source – the Indus River basin located in India – and since the rainfall has been slowly declining, amid claims from the experts that this is due to climate change.
Pakistan’s largest city Karachi, home to million people, where very few of the city’s residents have access to running water since most of the land’s water has dried up, has forced many residents to queue for hours for water.
Goats walk over a barren land near the Afghan border in Baluchistan province, Pakistan.
Some say the issue has worsened due to climate change and poor water management.
The authorities need to act now.

Mhadei water dispute: K’taka witness cornered over ignoring Goa’s needs.
Witness of Karnataka A K Bajaj was extensively cross-examined before the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal by senior counsel Atmaram N S Nadkarni.
Bajaj was asked as to why he failed to consider the various water requirements of the state of Goa.
It was pointed out to the witness that his estimation of Goa’s water needs, as stated by him in his report of 2016, was incorrect, precisely because he had only relied upon the Master Plan of 1999 and the detailed project reports (DPRs) on record.
The witness sought to respond to the same by feigning ignorance and disassociated himself with the same, to which he was confronted with the fact that at the relevant time he was officiating as the chairman of the CWC and also in fact a signatory to the approved modified DPR of 2009 and therefore disassociation was not an option and the only recourse left to him was to admit fault and accept the incorrectness.
However, the witness was unable to respond satisfactorily.
It was then pointed out to the witness that initially the yield calculated in respect of the Malaprabha dam was 47.25 TMC, however, in the year 2009 it was sought to be revised to 27 TMC, the alleged water scarcity was noticed precisely during the very same period when there was a drastic increase in the cultivation of sugarcane; which is widely recognised as a water guzzling crop.
The witness was unable to justify the same and attempted to dodge the question by giving evasive answers.
Water Resources Minster Vinod Palyekar also attended the hearing for around 3 hours and took considerable interest in the matter.
Further cross-examination will continue on Monday.

Mother needs help with water tank.
The 36-year-old mother lives with her husband.
“We have a water tank gifted to us by the Red Cross Society but it doesn’t cover all of our everyday necessities.” “One water tank is not enough for our family,” said the mother.
“We need to have our own water supply — and we have requested to the government for water connection — and we are still waiting.
“I want my children to live healthy lives and I don’t see how we can do that when we only have one water tank and no stable water supply.
“The lack of water is the one issue the government should prioritise.
“If we can’t have a water tank from them then, the least they can do is put in the effort in connecting water for us,” she said.
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Dry taps.
This is to draw the attention of the local authorities to a serious problem that has been faced by residents of Gulistan-e-Jauhar for a long time.
The problem is quite complex.
The locality has been facing severe scarcity of water and has not been receiving normal water supply for many weeks.
The water supply is being given to these new colonies by connecting the water pipelines from these colonies to the few water supply facilities.
As a result the other areas get ignored.
We requested the municipal commissioner to provide a new water facility in our locality, but to no avail.
The municipal authorities have quite an apathetic attitude towards providing public amenities to the people.
The people have been facing severe water scarcity for many months now.
Daniyal Imran (Karachi)

On a normal day in a normal year, a glass of water poured from any tap in the Santa Clarita Valley contains equal portions of water pumped from local wells and water imported from melting snowpacks in the Sierra Nevadas.
For example, the same glass of water poured from any tap in the SCV contained less than 10 percent of the water pumped locally compared to 91.1 percent of it being imported from Northern California.
Drinking that summer glass of water means you would have been drinking almost 100 percent melted snow brought down the Feather River, stored in Orville Dam and conveyed south by the California aqueduct to Castaic Lake as part of the State Water Project.
By contrast, looking at the amount of water pumped out of the ground locally mid-summer in 2013, three quarters of the water consumed in the SCV was imported.
Earmarked water One of 29 State Water Project contractors entitled to receive water from the Sierra Nevadas in Northern California, the CLWA serves as Santa Clarita Valley’s water wholesaler.
Every year state officials with the Department of Water Resources assess the Sierra Nevada snowpack, calculate how much water the melted snow will produce and allocate how much each of the 29 agencies should get.
This water earmarked for CLWA use is called “carryover” water.
Sharing water Unlike managing water in a drought year, when every drop of water is needed and used, the agency couldn’t use its 50,000 acre-feet of “carryover” water this current year which saw more rainfall than average.
State officials then took that unused water – called spilled water – and poured it back into their “pool of water” resources, making it available to all agencies contracted with the state to receive State Water Project water.
“Regarding the spilled water, effectively 35,000 acre-feet of water was spilled,” Marks told The Signal in July.

The water requirements of a large portion of the county’s agricultural land are fulfilled by Indus river system.
According to IMF, Pakistan is the third most water-stressed country in the world.
The drastic changes in the country’s hydel power, which is 30 percent of the total production, can exacerbate the situation of complicated power shortfall.
The agriculture sector, which consumes 12 percent of the national power, can further be troubled by this shortfall.
Among the major reasons, which contribute to the growing water scarcity in Pakistan, is the lack of sufficient storage structures.
Unfortunately, In Pakistan, no major dam has been constructed since 1970s.
These projects have not only affected the water availability for agriculture but have also interfered with the power production of Pakistan.
It has been reported that Kishanganga project will decrease the power production of the under construction Neelam-Jehlam hydro power project by 9 percent.
The farmers in Pakistan mostly apply old and conventional irrigation methods which not only results in water wastage but also in increased growth of weeds and pests.
It has been estimated that about 75 percent of the annual rainwater is lost to floods during the three months of monsoon rains.

Pudhuyeri remains dry even after heavy rain.
Despite various parts of the district experiencing widespread rainfall for the past few days, bringing much cheer to the farming community, the Pudhuyeri at the foothills of Yercaud continues to remain dry due to meagre inflow.
Yercaud has been experiencing heavy rain.
The rain water from the Yercaud hills flows down to Pudhuyeri.
The presence of water in the lake enabled in improving the ground water level and also in the borewells and open wells in the vicinity of the lake.
There is some water in the lake, which was the result of the rainfall received by Kannankurichi area.
The local farmers complain that Pudhuyeri did not receive any inflow from the hills so far mainly due to the encroachments in the channel which leading to the lake.
The farmers said that the rainwater from the hills first reached Pudhuyeri, and later to sprawling Mookaneri.
When Mookaneri overflows, the surplus water flows into Tirumanimuthar river.
They pleaded with the authorities to ensure flow of adequate rainwater of Yercaud hills into Pudhuyeri to ensure cultivation activities at least this season.