Iran is facing unprecedented challenges in securing water and food for its growing population, which is projected to reach 92 million by 2050. These challenges are due not only to Iran’s semi-arid climate and declining precipitation over the past decade, but also to mismanagement of water resources.

The political climate in the Middle East makes it impossible to discuss water without addressing the political contexts that have shaped its availability.

Lebanon has announced the construction of the dam via the United Nations as per the UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (to which Israel is not a signatory), which stipulates that signatories must give “prior notification of planned measures”. The plan is currently pending.

Around 92% of Lebanon’s sewage flows into rivers and the sea untreated. Wastewater management is fragmented, with responsibility for project planning and implementation (treatment facilities and connections to networks) split between the CDR, water establishments and municipalities.

Lebanon’s first water laws date back to Ottoman times. They were later amended during the French Mandate and after independence. The Lebanese water sector was restructured following a revision of its legal framework in 2000.

This will require not only a comprehensive managerial framework, but also strong political will and focus to tackle a rapidly worsening situation and ensure long-term sustainability of the resource.

In 1997, the World Bank described the water situation in Gaza as an “emergency state of affairs”. Yet nearly 20 years on, the levels of pumping have only increased, pollution has worsened and large parts of the water infrastructure in the area have been damaged or destroyed. Why was Gaza’s “emergency state of affairs” left to deteriorate beyond the point of repair?

Shifting regional relationships have affected Jordan’s access to these shared resources throughout the country’s history. In several cases, Jordan has received less than its equitable share of the resource, as upstream neighbours overexploit rivers and groundwater sources through damming, diversions and pumping.

Leakage, water loss and water theft form a huge problem in Jordan. An estimated 40% to 80% of the water supply is lost in the network, depending on the location.