PIP: Irrigated cropland yields 36% of all global food crops. Without dams, some countries are forced to increase arable lands or to boost agricultural production. Dry farming poses environmental problems, e.g, those linked to chemical use. Dams also cause environmental problems. Egypt's Aswan dam has stopped the annual floods replenished the lands with natural fertilizer. On the other hand, it provides almost 25% of Egypt's energy needs. Irrigation has expanded areas on which to plant crops, thereby meeting Egypt's rising food needs. The Nile had very low water levels for 7 years during the 1980s so the dam prevented a disaster. The World Conservation Union does not endorse engineered solutions to water scarcity because they generally result in bad watershed management. An irrigation scheme in the former Soviet Union was handled so poorly that it created 1 of this century;s worst environmental disasters--shrinking of the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan. This resulted in destruction of its fisheries, pollution from pesticides, large scale salinization, inferior water quality, and declining health of the people in the area. The Government of India has embarked on an irrigation scheme, the Narmada River dam project. In April 1993, it cancelled its loans with the World Bank because it could not abide by the Bank's tough environmental conditions, but the government intends to go ahead with the project on its own. Natural drainage is required for sustainable irrigation schemes, some of which have endured for centuries. Most of the 26 intensely water scarce countries have rapidly growing populations and are in Africa and the Middle East. The best way for these countries to address this scarcity is to use existing water better, ideally in a way that minimized environmental damage. By 2025, at least 96 countries will be facing great water shortages. Water scarcity will spark conflicts between countries and within countries. The world probably cannot provide enough water to support 8-10 billion people.