Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
(Image source: NASA/UC Irvine/NCAR)
BY JASMINE BAILEY
A concerning environmental discovery
out of the Middle East: Scientists have realized four countries lining the Tigris and Euphrates
river basins have lost as much as 117 million acre feet of fresh stored groundwater during
a seven-year period.
The discovery was made through data gathered
by NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or GRACE, satellites. The satellites can measure
water trends from space and gather data from every country in the world. In this particular
case, researchers are looking closely at Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.
According to
data gathered between 2003 and 2009, NASA reports— the majority of the water loss
stems from pumping groundwater from underground reserves and could also be a result of a substantial
drought in 2007.
In a statement, the principal investigator said:
“… The
Tigris and Euphrates river basins… currently have the second fastest rate of groundwater
storage loss on Earth, after India… Meanwhile, demand for freshwater continues to rise, and
the region does not coordinate its water management because of different interpretations of international
laws."
And the confusion mostly stems from Turkey, which as researchers at the University
of California, Irvine point out— controls the streamflow of the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers. And that causes conflict between Turkey and other countries.
The study’s
lead author says that was especially true during the 2007 drought when Turkey diverted
the water flow so they could irrigate their own crops.
“That decline in stream
flow put a lot of pressure on downstream neighbors…Both the United Nations and anecdotal reports from
area residents note that once streamflow declined, the northern part of Iraq had to switch to
groundwater. In a fragile social, economic and political environment, this did not help.”
That
explains why there has been such an enormous decline in water resources in the Middle East.
But one researcher outlined a possible solution to the alarming problem in an email to Red
Orbit, noting:
“… Perhaps the most important, actionable solution is to
increase collaboration between Turkey, Syria, and Iraq…As the three stakeholders in the
Tigris-Euphrates Basin, a comprehensive agreement that dictates allocations and responsibilities
for water use and supply is necessary.”
The research was done by scientists at the University
of California, Irvine, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and the National
Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. The findings will be published in the
February 15th issue of the journal Water Resource Research.