Inefficient water use in the agricultural sector represents the main water challenge in Bahrain. Irrigation methods, dominated by flood irrigation,

Water use in Egypt is growing due to a rising population and improving standard of living as well as the government policy of encouraging industrialization and the expansion of the agriculture sector.

Agriculture consumes 1,546 MCM/yr (83% of total use), drinking water 196 MCM/yr and industrial consumption is 130 MCM/yr, totalling 1,872 MCM/yr. This represents a deficit of 316 MCM/yr.

Challenges in Oman’s water sector are numerous.[1] Some of the major ones are: water shortages; energy-intensive desalination; high water consumption in the domestic sector; unsustainable groundwater use in the agricultural sector; misdirected subsidies; and the lack of appreciation of integrated water resources management (IWRM) principles by decision makers.

Irrigated agriculture is the primary water consumer, with an average of around 60% of total water use, where 39% is used for productive agriculture, 11% used for greening and landscaping and 10% for forestry.

Desalination of seawater and brackish groundwater will continue to be a viable option to increase water supply. Considering recent cost-cutting innovations in the desalination process, this alternative may prove to be a relatively inexpensive option in the near future.

As the Zayandehroud River has dried up, a 5,000-year-old civilization is on the verge of disappearing. The situation requires urgent action by every citizen in the basin as well as neighbouring basins.

While the annual yield of the Zayandehroud River has been significantly increased as a result of water transfers in the past decade

The Iraqi Marshes are located in the lower Mesopotamian basin, in the vast floodplain wetlands created by the Tigris-Euphrates river system.

Since the marshes are located at the tail end of the Tigris-Euphrates watershed, water storage and control projects are the main projects impacting on the wetlands.