River Jordan's Expansion During Civil War Shows Agriculture's Impact on Water Supplies

The Syrian civil war has wreaked havoc on the Middle East since 2011, with millions of Syrians fleeing the country and trying to survive in refugee camps while their hometowns have been reduced to rubble. Amid that conflict, Syria’s rivers and water resources are literally overflowing, and few people are left to use them.

Ever since millions of people fled the country, the Jordan River—which runs through Israel, Jordan and Lebanon—has swelled more than three times its size in 2008. This is partially because there are few farmers left in the country to use water for their crops, and virtually no demand for the water for drinking and cooking within decimated cities, according to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States of America.

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/syrias-rivers-are-overflowing-now-that-its-people-have-fled

Vyacheslav Argenberg

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