SELFISH USE OF RIVERS THREATENS POLITICAL STABILITY

clipped from www.planetaazul.com.mx Countries that selfishly use shared rivers threaten political stability at a time when water is scarce and demand is growing, a conservation group warned on Wednesday ISTANBUL, Turkey; March 19, 2009.- Disputes over shared rivers such as the Tigris and the Euphrates could be resolved if nations put borders aside and viewed the entire river basin as a unit instead, they added. In the past some states have built dams or siphoned water from rivers for irrigation without consulting neighbors downstream — stirring political tension. "The question countries must face is are they interested only in holding all the water themselves and living in a destabilized region, or do they wish to share the water and cooperate?" said Mark Smith,