ABSTRACT
Competition for water made scarce by intensive irrigation and unequal distribution is already a major source of conflict in the arid and semi-arid Middle East, which is the region of the eastern Mediterranean most commonly associated with potential crisis. The stresses on water quantity and quality in the arid and semi-arid countries that border the eastern Mediterranean are, in fact, quite varied. To take just two examples, tourism, which appeared to offer an endless source of income to the rocky, arid islands of the Mediterranean, has become an environmental and agricultural liability, particularly in places like Malta and the Aegean islands, which now import almost all their water; Turkey’s GAP project, designed to aid development in the backward Southeastern Anatolian region through the construction of large dams, has created a potential for conflict with the countries below the dams, namely Syria and Iraq. What is common to the region is a concern with the insufficient supply or deteriorating quality of fresh water, and the potential this situation creates for human suffering, political conflict, and environmental degradation.
