TY - CHAP
T1 - An overview of the water sector in MENA region
AU - Zekri, Slim
AU - Al-Maamari, Aaisha
N1 - Funding Information:
Most of the funding for the water sector is still coming from public funds (LAS 2018). This is fundamentally the result of low water tariffs in the urban sector as well as in the agricultural sector that makes investments by the private sector non-attractive. The required investments in the water sector for the coming decades are huge and estimated at US$ 100 billion per year, for the whole MENA region, in order to overcome water shortages in 2050 (Immerzeel et al. 2011). The funds vary from country to country and are needed for new investments as well as the replacement of old infrastructure. Although MENA has received an average $ 280 million per year during the period 2011–2013 ($ 0.50 per capita/year) in the form of development assistance for water resources (Jobbins et al. 2016) that represents only 0.3% of total required investments in the sector. The report by the World Bank (2018a) emphasizes that the participation of the private sector has been mainly focused on service efficiency so far. Some 28 million people living in MENA benefited from improved water services via public–private utility partnerships. The report stresses the fact that further participation of the private sector is conditioned by reforms in tariffs and subsidies and assurance of payments is addressed.
Publisher Copyright:
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - The Middle East and North Africa region is experiencing a widening gap between freshwater supply and demand caused by population and economic growth and climate change. This book addresses water scarcity issues in the MENA region and gives an overview of the current water policies in seven MENA countries: Algeria, Egypt Iran, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia. This book includes an introductory chapter and seven chapters showcasing water policies in each country. This introductory chapter gives a quantitative representation and description of current available water resources; water demand for industrial, domestic, and agricultural purposes; and water per capita decline over time. The seven chapters provide details on the main challenges faced in each of the countries in the water sector. The chapters address the laws governing water use in the three economic sectors, water supply, water pricing and cost recovery and irrigation efficiency, and technology adoption. The increase of supply from non-conventional resources such as desalination and reuse of treated wastewater is analyzed. The chapters end up discussing how the countries are adapting to climate change and the role of research and innovations.
AB - The Middle East and North Africa region is experiencing a widening gap between freshwater supply and demand caused by population and economic growth and climate change. This book addresses water scarcity issues in the MENA region and gives an overview of the current water policies in seven MENA countries: Algeria, Egypt Iran, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia. This book includes an introductory chapter and seven chapters showcasing water policies in each country. This introductory chapter gives a quantitative representation and description of current available water resources; water demand for industrial, domestic, and agricultural purposes; and water per capita decline over time. The seven chapters provide details on the main challenges faced in each of the countries in the water sector. The chapters address the laws governing water use in the three economic sectors, water supply, water pricing and cost recovery and irrigation efficiency, and technology adoption. The increase of supply from non-conventional resources such as desalination and reuse of treated wastewater is analyzed. The chapters end up discussing how the countries are adapting to climate change and the role of research and innovations.
KW - Climate change
KW - Research
KW - Water demand
KW - Water policy
KW - Water supply
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U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-29274-4_1
DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-29274-4_1
M3 - Chapter
AN - SCOPUS:85078787479
T3 - Global Issues in Water Policy
SP - 1
EP - 17
BT - Global Issues in Water Policy
PB - Springer
ER -