Where Water is Worth More than Gold: Addressing Water Shortages in the Middle East & Africa by Overcoming the Impediments to Basin-Wide Agreements

The risks posed by the severe water shortages afflicting the Middle East, North, and East Africa are exacerbated by desultory policies. This paper proposes a holistic treatment of transboundary rivers as a sustainable solution to the problem. This entails the pursuit of comprehensive basin-wide agreements which provide for the equitable allocation of waters between states and set forth mechanisms for the construction of hydroelectric plants and irrigations schemes where they most benefit basins as a whole. The paper analyzes the impediments to reaching such treaties and the deficiencies permeating existing international agreements. It also discusses the risks —ranging from resource depletion and economic decline to outright conflict —associated with the lack of basin-wide agreements.