Syllabus: GS2/IR
Context
- As the conflict in West Asia enters the 10th day, the military strikes by both sides have found a new target: desalination plants.
What are desalination plants?
- Desalination plants convert seawater into fresh drinking water by removing salt and other minerals.
- The most widely used method is a process called Reverse osmosis, which pushes seawater through ultra-fine membranes that filter out salt.
- The freshwater produced is used to supply households, industry, hotels and some agriculture across the region.
Why are they so important to the Gulf?
- Many Gulf countries depend heavily on desalinated water because they lack natural freshwater resources such as rivers or large lakes.
- According to the IFRI report, desalination plants in the UAE supply 42% of the country’s drinking water needs.
- Such plants meet 90% of Kuwait’s needs, 86% of Oman’s, and 70% of Saudi Arabia’s.
- The report also anticipated that desalination capacity in West Asia would almost double by 2030.
Challenges/Risks with Desalination Plants
- Disabling of Desalination Plants: Experts say major cities could lose most of their drinking water within days if key desalination plants were disabled.
- A 2010 analysis by the Central Intelligence Agency warned that attacks on desalination facilities could trigger national crises in several Gulf states.
- More than 90% of the region’s desalinated water comes from just 56 plants, making them highly vulnerable to sabotage or military action.
- Climate Change: Beyond war, climate change is also increasing risks to desalination infrastructure.
- Rising ocean temperatures and stronger cyclones in the Arabian Sea could threaten coastal facilities, while storm surges and extreme rainfall could damage plants or overwhelm drainage systems.
- Emissions and Pollution: Desalination is also energy-intensive, with plants worldwide producing between 500 million and 850 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year.
- The process also produces highly concentrated brine, which is often discharged back into the ocean and can harm marine ecosystems such as coral reefs.
Do you Know?
- International humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, prohibits the targeting of civilian infrastructure indispensable for survival. This includes drinking water facilities.
- During the 1990-91 Gulf war, retreating Iraqi forces sabotaged Kuwaiti desalination facilities. They also released millions of barrels of oil into the sea.
- This massive slick threatened water intakes across the entire region. Kuwait was left largely without fresh water and required years to recover.
Source: IE
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