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Syria Is Drying Up

[Ynet News] Guy Bechor - The Euphrates River, Syria's main source of water, is drying up. The Turks are stopping its water in their territory, so that Syria and Iraq are receiving a declining portion of the water. Within about 10 years, the river is expected to dry up completely outside Turkish territory. Another important Syrian water source, the Aasi (Orontes) River, is drying up as well. Some 250,000 farmers were forced in the past three years to abandon their land and migrate to the large cities. It turns out that the ruling Baath party is at fault. During the 1960s, the party decided to turn Syria into a grain-exporting state and forced farmers to shift from herding, on semi-arid land, to growing grain. Roughly 420,000 illegal wells were dug in order to water the grain, which are now unusable. Any economist who dared to speak out against this policy was jailed. Syria has its sights on the Sea of Galilee in order to get the water needed for its agricultural land. Meanwhile, that water is used by both Israel and Jordan (we provide a fixed amount every year in line with our peace treaty). Should Syria touch Israel's main water source, it will pump out huge amounts, ruining it as it ruined its own rivers and ground water.
2009-08-07 06:00:00
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