Editing Geography of Kuwait (section)

==Water and marshes==
[[File:Water_Stress,_Top_Countries_(2020).svg|thumb|Kuwait is the most water stressed country in the world.]]
Kuwait is part of the [[Tigris–Euphrates river system]] basin.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Buffering the impacts of extreme climate variability in the highly engineered Tigris Euphrates river system|bibcode=2022NatSR..12.4178A |last1=Abdelmohsen |first1=Karem |last2=Sultan |first2=Mohamed |last3=Save |first3=Himanshu |last4=Abotalib |first4=Abotalib Z. |last5=Yan |first5=Eugene |last6=Zahran |first6=Khaled H. |journal=Scientific Reports |year=2022 |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=4178 |doi=10.1038/s41598-022-07891-0 |pmid=35264678 |s2cid=247361048 |pmc=8907168 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJse5WYKvtMC&pg=PA144 |title=Design and impact of water treaties: Managing climate change |first= Matthew |last= Zentner |date=2012 |pages=144 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9783642237430 |quote=The Tigris-Euphrates-Shatt al Arab is shared between Iraq, Iran, Syria, Kuwait and Turkey.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://biorisk.pensoft.net/article/1829/download/pdf/|title=The Key Biodiversity Areas Project in Iraq: Objectives and scope 2004–2008|first=Clayton|last=Rubec|date=2009|page=40}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.feow.org/ecoregions/details/lower_tigris_euphrates |title=Lower Tigris & Euphrates|publisher=feow.org|date= 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117022326/http://www.feow.org/ecoregions/details/lower_tigris_euphrates|archive-date=17 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.feow.org/ecoregions/details/441|title=Lower Tigris & Euphrates|publisher=feow.org}}</ref><ref name="eu">{{cite web |url=http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2011/EGU2011-11072.pdf |title=Hydrological response of past and future climate changes in the Euphrates-Tigris Basin|first= Deniz|last= Bozkurt|author2= Omer Lutfi Sen |date=2012 |pages=1 |quote=The Euphrates-Tigris Basin, covering areas in five countries (Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Kuwait), is a major water resource of the Middle East.}}</ref> Several Tigris–Euphrates [[confluence]]s form parts of the Kuwait–Iraq border.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QifgYV59DK0C&pg=PA60 |title=Vortex of Conflict: U.S. Policy Toward Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq |first= Dan|last= Caldwel|date=2011 |pages=60|publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9780804777490}}</ref> [[Bubiyan Island]] is part of the [[Shatt al-Arab]] delta.<ref name="Ancient_Bubiyan">{{cite journal|first2=Robert|last2=Carter|first1=Linda|last1=Reinink-Smith|year=2022|title=Late Holocene development of Bubiyan Island, Kuwait|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/quaternary-research/article/abs/late-holocene-development-of-bubiyan-island-kuwait/FD3CB9742FC8B0A5EDE6EBAC8F15C301|journal=Quaternary Research|volume=109 |pages=16–38|doi=10.1017/qua.2022.3|bibcode=2022QuRes.109...16R |s2cid=248250022 }}</ref> Kuwait is partially part of the [[Mesopotamian Marshes]].<ref name="Meso_Marsh">{{Cite book |title=The Structure and Function of Aquatic Microbial Communities| isbn=9783030167752 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BruXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4| last1=Hurst | first1=Christon J. | date=13 May 2019 | publisher=Springer }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Analysis of the environmental reality of the marshes and its sustainable development|date=2022|pages=7–15|doi=10.1088/1755-1315/1002/1/012010 |last1=Irzoqy |first1=Israa Mahmooed Mohammed |last2=Ibrahim |first2=Lamia Flaieh |last3=Al-Tufaily |first3=Hodoud Mohamed Abboud |journal=IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science |volume=1002 |issue=1 |bibcode=2022E&ES.1002a2010I |s2cid=248237509 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Mesopotamian_Marsh">{{Cite book |title=Swamp: Nature and Culture| isbn=9781780238913 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_1UDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT258| last1=Wilson | first1=Anthony | date=15 November 2017 | publisher=Reaktion Books }}</ref> Kuwait does not currently have any permanent rivers within its territory. However, Kuwait does have several [[List of wadis of Kuwait|wadi]]s, the most notable of which is [[Wadi al-Batin]] which forms the border between Kuwait and Iraq.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/place/Wadi-Al-Batin Wadi Al-Bāṭin].</ref> Kuwait also has several river-like marine channels around Bubiyan Island, most notably [[Khawr Abd Allah]] which is now an [[estuary]], but once was the point where the [[Shatt al-Arab]] emptied into the Persian Gulf. Khawr Abd Allah is located in southern Iraq and northern Kuwait, the [[Iraq-Kuwait border]] divides the lower portion of the estuary, but adjacent to the port of [[Umm Qasr]] the estuary becomes wholly Iraqi. It forms the northeast coastline of Bubiyan Island and the north coastline of [[Warbah Island]].<ref name="EB">{{cite encyclopedia|last=|first=|authorlink=|editor-first=|editor-last=|editor-link=|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|title='Abd Allah Khawr|edition=15th|year=2010|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|volume=I: A-Ak – Bayes|location=Chicago, Illinois|isbn=978-1-59339-837-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/16 16]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/16}}</ref>

Kuwait relies on water [[desalination]] as a primary source of fresh water for drinking and domestic purposes.<ref name=scidi /><ref name=fao /> There are currently more than six desalination plants.<ref name=fao>{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/w4356e/w4356e0g.htm|title=Irrigation in the near east region in figures|publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]]|access-date=12 March 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011071303/http://www.fao.org/docrep/w4356e/w4356e0g.htm|archive-date=11 October 2016}}</ref> Kuwait was the first country in the world to use desalination to supply water for large-scale domestic use. The history of desalination in Kuwait dates back to 1951 when the first distillation plant was commissioned.<ref name=scidi>{{cite journal|first=Mohamed|last=F. Hamoda|title=Desalination and water resource management in Kuwait|date=September 2001|doi=10.1016/S0011-9164(01)00259-4|volume=138|issue=1–3|journal=Desalination|pages=165}}</ref>

Kuwait's fresh water resources are limited to groundwater, desalinated seawater, and treated wastewater effluents.<ref name=scidi /> There are three major municipal wastewater treatment plants.<ref name=scidi /> Most water demand is currently satisfied through seawater desalination plants.<ref name=scidi /><ref name=fao /> Sewage disposal is handled by a national sewage network that covers 98% of facilities in the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beatona.net/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1560&Itemid=84&lang=en|title=Regulations of Wastewater Treatment and Reuse in Kuwait|publisher=Beatona|access-date=12 March 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160219121906/http://www.beatona.net/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1560&Itemid=84&lang=en|archive-date=19 February 2016}}</ref>