ANKARA Ñ Turkey, intent on selling water to Israel, faces its own severe
shortage.
Turkish officials said the water reserves are being depleted by wasteful
agricultural methods. They are calling on the government to proceed with an
ambitious project to build dams in the southeast, Middle East Newsline reported.
"Turkey is not rich in water," Mumtaz Turfan, director of Turkey's State
Water Works, said. "Indeed, it is a country that could soon hit a water
crisis."
Turfan said the Ankara government must approve the construction of 350
hydroelectric power plants along the nation's 22 dams. The power plants
would cost $1 billion a year over the next 25 years.
"If the current techniques and technology continue, agriculture will
suffer a water problem very soon," Turfan said. "If we use high technology
then a water crisis is out of the question."
Officials said the expected water crisis would not affect Turkey's
intentions to export water, particularly to Israel. Turkey wants to sell at
least 50 million cubic meters of water to Israel from the Manavgat River.
The river flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
The Manavgat has a capacity of 186 million cubic meters, officials said.
They said the resources of the river cannot be shared with Ankara's
neighbors that claim water rights from rivers that stem from Turkey.
Iraq and Syria have claimed rights to the Euphrates and Tigris rivers,
which flow through Turkey's southeast Anatolian region. Ankara has
established 22 dams and 19 power plants in the region.
