Cooperation Vs. Conflict: When Water Sources Are Not Enough

From EcoWordly:

According to UNESCO, globally there are 262 international river basins: 59 in Africa, 52 in Asia, 73 in Europe, 61 in Latin America and the Caribbean and 17 in North America - overall, 145 countries have territories that include at least one shared river basin.

Most of the international interaction regarding shared water sources in the past were cooperation but the discussion raises the question of what happens when there are less water, the population grows and cooperation might mean sharing something that you don’t have enough of.

Are we about to witness much more conflicts between states and communities in the future? I don’t know maybe but what I do know is that gaining complete control on a shared water basin is a short term solution but when stressed with the risk of starvation nations might become desperate so it is a possibility.

How are the poor states in Africa have the resources for developing solutions such as Water desalination that could mean more water for everyone? Usually with the help of the West.

The picture is not a pretty one and there are only limited solutions any creative way to cope with the situation would be really welcomed.