Water crisis warning to Gulf States

The GCC states are facing a potential water shortage and serious steps should be taken to avoid such a crisis, a leading expert of water desalination has warned.

"Nowhere else in the world is the dependency of mankind on water resources demonstrated more intensely than in the Middle East," said Eric Jankel, director for the Middle East Desalination Research Center in Oman.

He said that throughout the region a guaranteed water supply needs to be found in order to meet rising demand.

"The availability of water is playing an increasingly important role throughout the Middle East and North Africa region and is vital to the future economic growth of the region," said Jankel, who will address a top-level water and desalination summit in Dubai next month.

"Historically water supplies in the Middle East have been typically recovered from surface and ground water resources, but they are under extraordinary demand from existing populations. Indeed, in many areas demand has far outstripped natural supply and these are now heavily dependent on desalination," he said.

The Water and Desalination Development Summit is part of the annual Middle East Infrastructure Development Congress which will be held in Dubai from November 23-25.