5.8C - Conflicts
The potential for conflicts to occur between users within a country, and internationally over local and trans-boundary water sources. (Nile or Mekong) (P: Role of different players)
When the demand for water overtakes the available supply and there are key stakeholders desperate for that water, there is potential for conflict, or what has been called 'water wars'. Within countries, conflicts can arise between the competing demands of irrigation, energy, industry, domestic use and recreation. But it is when countries 'share' the same river or drainage basin, as is the case with trans-boundary water sources, the 'normal' competition for water can be raised to a different level, namely one of international tensions and even open conflict.
The Nile is the world's longest river, at 6,700 km. 11 countries compete for its water. Currently, in 2017, 300 million people lived within the Nile basin and such is the rate of population growth that total is set to double by 2019. All these people will need the waters of the Nile for domestic consumption and for growing crops. The Nile is also expected to generate HEP. Potential flash points have been dams and barrages built in Sudan and Ethiopia that deprive downstream Egypt of its fair share of Nile water.
Other shared rivers that could become battefields of water wars are the Jordan and the Tigris-Euphrates in the Middle-East, and the Indus and Ganges in the Indian subcontinent.
Conflicts ranging from minor disputes to wars can occur at any scale from local to international. At a local scale, key players are the water users (farmers, industrialists and households). Their views may differ from those of the planners, environmentalists and water providers. Internationally, the key players are those governments and users of trans-boundary water sources. In some cases, it may be necessary to call in the mediating services of UN agencies.