SUDAN SETS AN EXAMPLE IN ADDRESSING NATIONAL AND REGIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT ISSUES CHOL DENG ALAK (Sudan) The problem of the growing shortage of fresh water for agriculture, industry and domestic purposes is increasingly worrying the world community, politicians and public figures of various countries, including highly developed in economic terms. So, in early 2007, in one of his speeches, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair named it among the most important along with the problem of global climate change. The famous English economist Nicholas Stern described the natural processes taking place in this area as a "serious warning" to all mankind. Dr. Salman Salman, a World Bank legal consultant who specializes in the development of an International Water Law, was even more specific: "Over the next 25 years, we are likely to see a truly catastrophic freshwater situation in many regions of the world, primarily in the Middle East, China and India, for which the problem of dwindling water supplies can be a very serious socio-economic blow." Dr. S. Salman warns: "Thirst is coming to the Arab world." This warning is more relevant than ever. For the peoples of African countries, water is the primary basis for the development of agriculture and the solution of the food problem, an extremely important "component" of the continent's newly emerging industry. The presence of high - water rivers, including the longest river on Earth-the Nile, only partially solves the problem, because river water is not enough to irrigate existing fields and develop new land. Therefore, African scientists-economists, biologists, and specialists in various agricultural sectors-are increasingly turning their attention to other sources of life-giving moisture and paying more attention to such problems as improving the use of rainwater (which is more often called "harvest water"in the lower Nile states). and water from underground sources extracted by drilling artesian wells. A recently released r ... Read more