There are massive water shortages in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), with more than 60% of the region’s population living in areas with high or even extremely high water stress compared to the a global average of around 35%.

Despite the water scarcity, studies have shown that the region has the world’s lowest water tariffs – yet at 2%, it also has the highest proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spent on public water subsidies.

Higher service tariffs could encourage more efficient use of water and make people understand the value of this dwindling resource as well as provide financing for water resources protection, infrastructure maintenance. All of this should ensure equitable and reliable service delivery – the problem is balancing this with the poverty in the region.

Guangzhe Chen, Senior Director of the World Bank’s Global Water Practice said: “Along with better water management, there is room for increasing the supply through nonconventional methods such as desalination and recycling.

Fortunately, many countries have demonstrated success in implementing innovative programs to reduce the amount of treated water that is lost through leakages before it reaches the customer, as well as producing nonconventional water. The cost-effectiveness of these technologies is also rapidly improving, changing the landscape of options for the next generation of water management.”

More than 50% of the wastewater collected in the MENA region is currently returned to the environment untreated, which results in health hazards as well as wasted water resources. While the potential for recycling has yet to be fully exploited in the region, this has been successfully done in Jordan and Tunisia, proving that wastewater can be safely recycled for use in irrigation and managed aquifer recharge.

Negative impacts of climate change on water availability also require urgent action to allocate and use water more wisely. For the changes that are needed to some about, commitment is required from all levels of society as well as from those in government.

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