King Hussein of Jordan echoed Sadat's theme in 1990 when he proclaimed that water was the only issue that could take his country to war with Israel.
Humans use an enormous amount of water.
We dam rivers, pump groundwater and siphon lakes and rivers to grow our food, quench our thirst, spur our industry. We fell the forests and pave the land, reducing the soil's ability to retain water so more water flows to the sea and becomes unavailable for irrigation, industrial use or drinking, not to mention unavailable to the plants and animals with whom we share the land. Around the world, our contamination of aquatic ecosystems is enormous. One-fifth of China's river water is too polluted for irrigation, much less for drinking. Three-fourths of Poland's rivers are so contaminated by chemicals, sewage, and agricultural runoff that their water is unfit for even industrial use.