TURKEY - IRRIGATION PAGE

Water shortage at the global level

Water is essential for human security and one of the engines of sustainable socio-economic development. It is an essential element for the eradication of poverty and hunger.

Water is a precious resource, one that is gradually getting scarcer. More than half of the world population will be living with water shortage within fifty years time, creating a worldwide water crisis, according to report issued by the United Nations Environment Programme. It is highly unlikely, in other words, that there is going to be enough water for everybody unless the necessary steps are taken at regional and global levels.

Population growth, industrialization, urbanization and rising affluence in the twentieth century has resulted in a substantial increase in water consumption. While the world’s population has grown threefold, water use has increased sixfold during the same period. The demand on water resources will continue to increase during the next twenty-five years. The problem is further aggravated by the uneven water distribution on earth.

The basic question we should therefore ask ourselves today is what governments and international organizations need to do in order to reverse the situation and avert a water crisis at the global level. How much water will we need to ensure global food security for over eight billion people? How can we ensure the adequate supply of water for irrigation and agriculture? We must also ask ourselves how we can secure a more efficient water management system so that we can meet the most basic of human needs.

Turkey’s water potential

With respect to the situation in Turkey, and contrary to the general perception, Turkey cannot be said to be rich in freshwater resources nor is it the richest country in the region in this respect.

Turkey is situated in a semi-arid region, and has only about one fifth of the water available per capita in water rich regions such as North America and Western Europe. Water rich countries are ones that have 10,000 m3 of water per capita yearly. This is well above the 1,830 m3 per capita in Turkey.

I should also like to emphasize that Turkey’s water is not always in the right place at the right time to meet present and anticipated needs. Certain regions of Turkey such as the Black Sea region have ample but unusable freshwater, while some of the more heavily populated and industrialized regions such as the Marmara and the Aegean regions lack sufficient freshwater.

Turkey’s dependence on water for energy

Turkey produces more than 44 thousand GWh of hydroelectric power per year, which corresponds to 36.9 per cent of its total power generation. Turkey’s energy consumption is rising at about 5.7 per cent a year on average due to rapid urbanization and industrialization.

In 2002, the electricity consumption peaked at 126.9 billion kWh. It is estimated to rise to 265 billion kWh in 2010 and to 528 billion kWh in 2020.

It should also be emphasized that per capita energy consumption in Turkey is only one sixth of that of the EU average and increase in the energy consumption means improving the quality of life of Turkish citizens. Turkey, which neither produces oil nor natural gas, plans to meet the rising energy need in several ways, and hydropower is especially appealing in that it is cheap and clean.

The production of hydropower and its wider use should be encouraged in accordance with the Implementation Plan of the World Submit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg. As a follow up to the WSSD Summit, the Third World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference gave a prominent place to the issue of renewable energy resources.

The importance of hydropower was highlighted in various sessions including the central role of dams and reservoirs in providing a vital source of clean and cheap energy.

The World Bank has also reviewed its energy policy and has placed renewable energy development as one of the key strategic choices. The Bank has adopted a pro-active policy to encourage and provide financial support to renewable energy projects, including hydropower in developing countries.

I believe that developed countries and international organizations, together with financial institutions, should provide more financial support to renewable energy projects. In view of the key role that renewable energy can play in the eradication of poverty, additional steps should be taken at regional and international levels to support and finance multi-purpose water infrastructure.

Turkey’s dependence on water for food

Increasing agricultural production by irrigation is one of the most important means for combating poverty and hunger in developing countries. The integrated WEHAB (water, energy, health, agriculture, biodiversity) approach, which was proposed by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as a contribution to the WSSD, foresees measures for increasing agricultural productivity, thereby reducing hunger.

In arid and semi-arid regions where precipitation is generally limited to four or five months a year, water resources development projects, especially storage systems and irrigation networks, are indispensable for sustainable socio-economic development. A case in point is the Middle East.

This said, I should like to make a few points with respect to the situation in Turkey. In recent decades, Turkey has made great strides in water resources development for domestic use, irrigation, flood control and power generation. The dams and reservoirs built have enabled Turkey to save water from its brief seasons of rainfall to use throughout the year for various purposes, agriculture in particular. Rainfed agriculture in Turkey is being realized almost to the maximum level. As a result, increasing agricultural productivity has become primarily dependent upon irrigation by using modern techniques.

The Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers

Rivers are one of the main sources of freshwater: 70 per cent of the total easily accessible water is provided by rivers. Moreover, 40 per cent of the world population depends for its freshwater on 214 transboundary rivers flowing through two or more countries. The Danube and Nile, for example, flow respectively through twelve and nine countries.

The Euphrates and the Tigris are two of the most famous rivers in the world. The combined water potential of the two rivers is almost equal to that of the Nile River. Both rise in the high mountains of northeastern Anatolia and flow down through Turkey, Syria, and Iraq and eventually join to form the Shatt-al-Arab 200 km before they flow into the Gulf.

They account for about one third of Turkey’s water potential. Both rivers cross the southeastern Anatolia region, which receives less precipitation compared to the other regions of Turkey. This is why Turkey launched projects in the 1960s and 1970s to utilize the rich water potential of these rivers for energy production and agriculture.

Turkey contributes 31 billion m3 or about 89 per cent of the annual flow of 35 billion m3 of the Euphrates. The remaining 11 per cent comes from Syria. Iraq does not contribute to the flow.

As to the Tigris, the picture is entirely different: 52 per cent of the total average flow of 49 billion m3 comes from Turkey. Iraq contributes all the rest. No Syrian waters drain into the Tigris.

The Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP)

One of the great water success stories is, of course, the Southeast Anatolia Project (GAP), which is a regional integrated sustainable development project based on harnessing the water resources of the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers and the land resources of ‘Upper Mesopotamia’, a favourable environment for large scale and intensive agriculture. This area, which used to be the ‘food basket’ of the region, was named ‘fertile crescent’.

GAP has become a well-known example of transition from simple water development to efficient water management. It stands as an outstanding accomplishment in the field of water development and great engineering achievements in irrigation and hydropower.

The project requires US billion of total financing, 16 billion of which has already been invested by Turkey. The project is expected to almost double Turkey’s agricultural production. The resulting diversification of and increase in crop production will also create new opportunities for developing agro-industries.

The universal nature and relevance of the GAP has been highlighted by various authorities and experts, notably Dennis Avery, the former head of the Global Food Policy Institute and agricultural economist, who pointed out the importance of the GAP by recognizing that ‘[we] are on the eve of the greatest farming opportunity in history and it is precisely at this moment that Turkey is creating a new California’. Timothy Reevs, an Australian geneticist, also emphasized the contribution that the GAP may make towards meeting the minimum food requirements at the global level:

...The critical question is just how to create 2,600 calories a day for 8.5

billion people? When the future and potential of GAP are examined against

that challenge, it is obvious that GAP will be an integral part of the world’s

response.

Hydropower is cheap and environment friendly and therefore its wider use should be encouraged in accordance with the Implementation Plan of the Johannesburg Summit.

Discouraging hydropower and other major development projects to serve narrow interests will result in hindering economic growth.

Turkey’s water management in a transboundary context

Turkey’s policy regarding the use of transboundary rivers is based on the following principles:

. Water is a basic human need

. Each riparian state of a transboundary river system has the sovereign right to make use of the water in its territory

. Riparian states must make sure that their use of such waters does not produce ‘significant harm’ to others

. Transboundary waters should be used in an equitable, reasonable and optimum manner

. Equitable use does not mean the equal distribution of waters of a transboundary river among riparian states.

As regards the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers, I should like to emphasize the following points:

.The two rivers constitute a single basin

.The combined water potential of the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers is, in view of the Turkish authorities, sufficient to meet the needs of the three riparian states, provided that water is used in an efficient way and the benefit is maximized through new irrigation technologies and the principle of ‘more crop per drop’ at basin level

. The variable natural hydrological conditions must be taken into account in the

allocation of the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers

. The principle of sharing the benefits at basin level should be pursued.

With respect to the use of the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers, Turkey has consistently abided by these principles and continued to release maximum amount of water from both rivers even during the driest summers thanks to the completed dams and the reservoirs in southeastern Anatolia. For example, 1988 and 1989 were the driest years of the last half-century; the natural flow of the Euphrates was about 50 m3/s. Turkey however was able to release a monthly average of minimum 500 m3/s to Syria in conformity with Article 6 of the Protocol signed by Turkey and Syria in 1987, which reads as follows:

During the filling up period of the Ataturk Dam reservoir and until the final allocation of waters of Euphrates among the three riparian countries, the Turkish side undertakes to release a monthly average of more than 500 cubic meters per second at the Turkish-Syrian border and in cases where the monthly flow falls below the level of 500 cubic meters per second, the Turkish side agrees to make up the difference during the following month.

Our motto has always been that water should be a source of cooperation among the three riparian states. Turkey is eager to find ways of reaching a basis for cooperation, which will improve the quality of life of the peoples of the three countries. The point of departure should be to identify the real needs of the riparian states. Turkey designed a ‘Three Staged Plan’ to this end. The Three Staged Plan is based on the fact that the Euphrates and the Tigris make up one single transboundary river system and the plan envisages the preparation of common inventories of water and land resources for a final allocation of water between the riparian states.

Water transfer to water stressed regions by sea

In view of the expected water shortage in the Middle East in the years to come, Turkey introduced the concept of water transfer by sea to water stressed countries in the region from its national rivers in the Mediterranean region where there is a surplus freshwater.

In order to meet the urgent needs of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

(TRNE), water has been transferred from the Soguksu River to Northern Cyprus by large water balloons towed by tugboats. As this technique has proved inefficient, projects are being prepared to transfer water to Northern Cyprus by large tankers and/or pipelines in the near future.

Turkey also developed the Manavgat Water Supply Project on the Manavgat River near the city of Antalya with a view to providing freshwater to the Mediterranean coast and countries in the region. The installation of on-shore components for the treatment and storage of water and offshore components for loading water onto tankers were completed in 1997.

The water treatment capacity of the Manavgat Water Supply Project is 500,000 m3 daily.

The Manavgat River has an annual water potential of 3.6 billion m3. It follows that more water could be drawn from the river by increasing the capacity of the installations, when necessary. Israel has been the only country to date which expressed its political will to purchase treated water from the Manavgat River.

An intergovernmental agreement between Turkey and Israel is expected to be signed soon concerning the purchase by Israel of 50 million m3 of treated water for a period of twenty years. The water will be sent to Israel by purpose-built tankers. In our view, selling freshwater to Israel will contribute to efforts towards enhancing peace and stability in the Middle East in addition to socio-economic development.

Peace Pipeline Project

Turkey has been developing a Peace Pipeline Project that seeks to provide freshwater to Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States from its national rivers, namely the Seyhan and the Ceyhan, which originate from the Taurus Mountains of southern Anatolia and flow to the Mediterranean.

Water is planned to be transferred to the aforementioned countries by two large diameter pipelines namely the Western Pipeline and the Gulf Pipeline. The pre-feasibility study, carried out by Brown and Root, has shown that the project is feasible and applicable.

From our perspective, the project will have multiple benefits. It will supplement the limited water resources of the region, thereby contributing to economic and social development. Moreover, it will promote economic relations among the countries of the region and further enhance peace and stability in the Middle East.

From our perspective, the project will have multiple benefits. It will supplement the limited water resources of the region, thereby contributing to economic and social development. Moreover, it will promote economic relations among the countries of the region and further enhance peace and stability in the Middle East.

Conclusions

.First and foremost, we view water as a catalyst for cooperation rather than a source of conflict.

.I do believe that economic development and the spreading of prosperity to all

people in the region will be the most effective means of creating a climate of peace and good neighbourly relations in the Middle East.

.Transboundary waters should be used in an equitable, reasonable and optimum manner.

.The WEHAB approach is essential for sustainable socio-economic development, namely for reducing poverty and hunger. I was particularly pleased to observe that the UN bodies as well as many international organizations and NGOs have recognized this fact, apparent during the WSSD Summit and the Third Water Forum.

.I welcome the recent change in the strategy of the World Bank, which makes it possible to provide financial support for renewable energy projects, including

hydropower.

.The looming water shortage at the global level can only be addressed through a holistic approach and with technical and financial support by the developed

countries, by regional and international organizations and by financial institutions.

.In the case of southeastern Turkey, the GAP is not only generating environmentally clean electricity, but is also literally turning near desert areas into fertile farmland. The project is starting an economic revolution in the region, benefiting not just the local population who have some of the lowest incomes in the country but Turkey as a whole. It will also help bring prosperity to a much wider region, riparian states in particular.

. As regards Iraq, Turkey is prepared to contribute to efforts to provide hydroelectric power and other water-related services to the Iraqi people. Given its geographic proximity, know-how and experience, I strongly believe that Turkey can take part in and contribute to the reconstruction works in Iraq, including water and infrastructure as well as institution building.