BACKGROUND Congr agation Shir Tikvah In Troy Wishes to thanks all those Individuals and businesses who so generously supported our Second Annual Auction ar CONTEMPORARY • furniture • lighting • wall decor • gifts • silk florals • interiors G raduate to the finest in home furnishings, gifts and accessories casual living modes For the best in contemporary home furnishings and accessories for over 35 years! 544.1711 • 22961 WOODWARD • FERNDALE THE BEST CARPET DESERVES THE BEST CARE Duraclean by Maryann 645-0111 425-4800 Our foam extraction rated best by independent tests. Residential and commercial experts in carpet, furniture, drapery, and blind cleaning. BOB & MARYANN ZUKOSKY 34 FRIDAY, MAY 25, 1990 Shortage Of Water May Trigger Next Middle East Conflagration HELEN DAVIS Foreign Correspondent I sraeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir has been the recipient of little good news in recent months, and the message from a delega- tion of 16 senior scientists last week gave him no fresh cause for comfort. Israel is using up its water reserve 15 percent faster than it can be replenished each year, and the senior hydrologists, drawn from major scientific institutions, warned that years of over- pumping ground water resources is leading to a de- terioration of both the quan- tity and quality of Israel's supplies. There is an urgent need to adopt drastic, emergency measures, delegation mem- bers told Shamir, even if this involves such politically sensitive decisions as cut- ting back agricultural pro- duction. The bottom line: Unless such measures are implemented, Israel will face a "catastrophe" within five years. Israel is not alone among Middle East states in facing a water crisis. Warnings are growing steadily louder, both inside and outside the region, that the next major Middle East conflagration will draw its inspiration not from the Arab-Israeli con- flict, the Palestinian prob- lem, Islamic fundamen- talism or any of the other myriad rivalries, jealousies and suspicions that characterize relationships within the region. The next war, according to both politi- cians and scientists, will be over water. A sign of the times was provided earlier this year when Turkey, the emerging water "superpower" of the region, unilaterally turned off the flow of the Euphrates in order to fill its new Ataturk Dam. The dam is the centerpiece of an ambitious $21 billion project which will eventual- ly involve the creation of 21 new dams, 17 hydro-electric plants and irrigation to transform some 46,000 semi- arid square miles of ancient Mesapotamia into a new fer- tile crescent. The Turkish action drew a response that was as swift as it was unexpected: a short- lived alliance between tradi- Artwork from the Los Angeles Tmes by Barbara Cummings. Copyright o 1989, Barbara Cummings. Distributed by Los Angeles Tines Symficate. tional arch- rivals Syria and Iraq, both of which draw water from the Euphrates and both of which suffered acute shortages, electrical disruptions and crop failures when the flow was halted. Within weeks, the strained relations approached break- ing point, with headlines appearing in both Syrian and Iraqi newspapers warn- ing of war unless water sup- plies were resumed immedi- ately. Just one month after they stopped the flow, the authorities in Ankara turn- ed on the tap again. Nevertheless, the harsh facts of life are that Turkey's far-sighted and ambitious water projects could ultimately cost Syria a dev- astating 40 percent of its Euphrates water, while Iraq could lose up to 90 percent. Concern about the region's diminishing water supplies in the face of a rapidly rising demand — which is being fueled by exploding popula- tion numbers and the in- creased needs of agriculture and industry — has been given dramatic expression in the United States. A 1987 State Department report noted grimly that "there will be insufficient water to sustain Egypt's population by the year 2000 unless dramatic conserva- tion and management im- provements are put into place in the next few years." More recently — and in more apocalyptic terms — the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies warn- ed that the Middle East was standing on the edge of an- other major resource crisis. "Before the 21st century," noted a research paper, "the struggle over limited and threatened water resources could sunder already fragile ties among regional states and lead to unprecedented upheaval within the area." Despite the warnings, however, little has been done to conserve existing supplies; to apply those sup- plies more efficiently and economically; to establish fresh sources that could avert the predicted catas- trophe. The Syrian capital of Damascus, which is without