Water is the medium that connects life to the minerals in the soil, which become the nutrients for all plant life. There is no substitute for water. It is severe enough that last year water ministers from around the world met at a summit in the Netherlands to discuss a pending water crisis. In fact, Middle East tensions are currently rising over water rights between Turkey, Israel, Syria and Iraq. Turkey s eagerness to sell water to Israel, while reducing the flow of the Tigris and Euphrates to its Arab neighbors, is placing Ankara in a dangerous position.
Water is more important in the Middle East than oil.
The current dispute over the water rights of the Tigris and Euphrates could be a casus belli for years to come. Last year Sudan s former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi threatened war over the water rights of the Nile. In the end, the ultimate battle in the Middle East may be over water not oil. In April of last year, a bipartisan House caucus was convened to discuss the growing problems with our nation s water infrastructure. The impetus behind these various public interest groups is for federal funding to repair and meet existing water infrastructure and meet standards of the Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Acts.