Critical thinking essay 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Critical thinking 2 - Essay Example While water scarcity has always been a source of concern around the world, it had never got so much attention from the governments. But today, economies have begun preparing themselves for a water crisis and the Middle East which is one of the most poorly endowed regions in terms of water is faced with formidable task of providing clean and safe drinking water to its growing populations. What is challenging about the water scenario in the Middle East is the power it holds on economies and governments. In fact, countries here are divided and ranked on the basis of those who can manage to pay for access to or the creation of new sources of water and those who do not have the pecuniary prowess to do so. Conflict here is invoked not because water is not accessible but because it is not equally accessible. Water is extremely important for human survival but given its inequitable distribution in the Middle East, there is a mad scramble by governments to control and possess whatever they can get their hands on. For example, in the Upper Nile Basin, the Ethiopian government planned to build dams to secure its water supply for irrigation which was strongly opposed by the Sudanese and Egyptian governments because once a dam is constructed on a river it not only reduces the flow of water to downstream users but can also cause harm by affecting soil and water qualities downstream. Similarly, in the Euphrates Basin, the Southeast Anatolia Development Project (Dam) is causing much tension by benefiting Turkey but exhausting the water supply to Syria and Iraq and polluting the soil there. Conflict over water is not just about possession, it also has a lot to do with the modifications to the quality and quantity of the resource. Like Abu Saeed of Jiftlick Popular Committee points out in the Documentary, Jordan Valley Blues, â€Å"The Israeli side has done a good job stealing water by drilling deep into the aquifers specifically in many