Speaker addresses water issues in Middle East
The acute problems and hardships facing today’s young people and the future of the planet will soon require immediate attention, according to Wynn Walker, senior associate dean of civil engineering.
Referring to the lack of water and resources worldwide, Walker gave a speech Tuesday evening to students and faculty. He entitled the speech “Water: The Fickle Finger of Fate in the Middle East,” which was part of the International Research Lecture Series hosted by USU.
Walker said the 1968-1971 television show “Laugh-In” featured hosts Dan Rowan and Dick Martin presenting the “Flying Fickle Finger of Fate” award to anything strange or capricious in the news, he said.
“As I got to thinking about water resources in the Middle East, if that show was going on today, I think (water resources) would probably deserve this Fickle Finger of Fate award,” Walker said.
No access to water, greenhouse gases that induce widespread climate changes and impact the global hydraulic cycle, and increasing populations that threaten global food security — since water supplies may not be sufficient for both food production and other uses — are the three reasons Walker said lack of adequate water is a problem.
“They say there are 2 million people a year dying of water-born disease effects,” Walker said. “National Geographic, about a year and a half ago, said probably 15-20,000 children die each day due to polluted water and the aftereffects. So this is a serious issue.”
Highlighting USU’s participation in the most recently completed project in the Middle East, the Iraq Agricultural Extension Revitalization (IAER) project, Walker said over a period of four years $12.5 million of aid was given by a consortium of U.S. universities with specific tasks.
USU’s task was to help advance the science of irrigation engineering and irrigation system design and evaluation, something that Walker said is necessary for other countries to have access to water.
The IAER, he said, conducted more than 35 seminars, including field demonstrations in the Middle East to help educate others about proper irrigation techniques. Through that, he said, students and staff grew more aware and appreciative of diversity and experience.
He said the group found that, “in a business-as-usual scenario, where we don’t try do anything — just keep going along — there’s not enough water to meet the expected increases in population to serve their drinking needs.”
He also said there are shortages of water people need for healthy crop production.
“People are going to have to choose between whether they eat and whether they drink,” Walker said. “You can find many examples all over the world where getting any kind of water is serious and time consuming and occupies a great deal more effort than it should.”
The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing when “all people, at all times have access to sufficient safe (and) nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.”
Walker said he believes this may be linked to success in water management, which maximizes food production.
In order to provide other countries with complete food security, more food with less water will be needed, he said. Already, he said, the world is far behind and needs a more holistic view on water.
Because there is less arable land and a lot more food production, the solution to maintaining and obtaining water resources must come through maintaining, managing and sustaining water through irrigation, Walker said, which he attributed to the success of further developed countries.
USU played an important role, he said, in educating Middle Eastern peoples about water issues through its experience with the IAER, and there are many more opportunities to do good, especially for the upcoming generation.
“You’d better pay attention, because the problems you’re going to face will be acute, and the world may go on without you,” he said. But he added later, “You’re starting off toward some super big problems, but with a real jump on what you know. A lot of you young people go out and say, ‘You know, I don’t think that I know anything.’ What you’re going to find out really fast is that you know a bunch.”
DeeVon Bailey, associate vice president for International Research, said the lecture series particularly focuses on USU’s international activity in particular segments of the world. Latin America, Africa and the Middle East are all regions that have been previously discussed, and USU’s involvement in other countries will continue to be recognized in the future.
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