About 40 billion tonnes of water would be required to produce this volume of grain. Engineers could not contemplate moving so much water, but those involved in the international grain trade take the challenge in their stride. Virtual water has, since the early 1970s, ensured the economic stability of this major arid region in the world. Future economic stability here will depend on its capacity to sustain the trade in virtual water. The water optimists are right but their optimism is dangerous because the notion enables politicians to treat water as a low policy priority, delay innovation and thereby please those who perceive that they are prospering under the old order.
Pessimists also bring more sensational stories to the media.
Optimists bring a version of unsensational good news. The good news is complicated and indigestible as well as unsensational. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development 4. M. Haddad, E. Feitelson, Joint management of shared aquifers, Palestinian Consultancy Group and The Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1995. If you appreciate the information we provide, please support our work.