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According to the International Food Policy Research Institute, drawing from the ocean might be the only viable way to supply people, their animals, and crops with sufficient quantities of fresh water, particularly in parched regions like the Middle East. […]a 2015 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences blamed water scarcity and water insecurity for the explosion of the Syrian civil war. […]the country was pumping water from the (freshwater) Sea of Galilee at an unsustainable rate. In 2017, when a fifth plant goes online, desalination will provide an estimated two-thirds of Israel’s domestic water needs. Besides alleviating the effects of the drought, the plant has allowed the country to cede some of its water allocations from the Jordan River, reducing conflict with the Palestinians.