A few points worth noting from the article: water's a big deal in the Middle East, and Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan have come to blows (and/or nearly so) a few times over it; desalination is looking more economically viable (though its environmental effects are still unknown; power, at least, could come from renewables, as wind and solar prices become competitive with fossil fuels); as one Israeli farmer puts it, at least the way Israeli politics have gone, the money is going to the major desalination corporation (for the next 25 years!), shifting incentives (and public scrutiny) away from the public utilities.