Ineffective actions on water scarcity exacerbate the water crisis in West Asia

Climate change and water availability in arid West Asia are critical to understanding human adaptation to long-term environmental changes. While droughts are well-documented, water availability remains insufficiently quantified. Using high-resolution satellite imagery and deep learning, we examined water bodies across West Asia, revealing long-term changes and their drivers from 1990 to 2020. By 2020, 12,725 water bodies covering 32,860 km² were identified, with 94% being previously unreported artificial bodies. Despite a 42% increase in artificial water area and the addition of 3,400 new reservoirs since 1990, water resources in West Asia have declined by 140 km² annually, primarily due to the shrinking of natural lakes like Lake Urmia, driven by the effects of reservoirs. Our findings indicate that ineffective water management, especially overreliance on infrastructure, has aggravated water imbalances, leading to severe shortages. With predicted droughts and rising demand, Lake Urmia may dry up by 2090, and the regional water crisis is projected to worsen, underscoring the urgent need for effective water resource management.