There is a lovely quote in Rowan Jacobsen’s latest article, inspired by his visit to Israel’s (and the world’s) largest water desalination plant at Sorek. “A few miles from here (Syria) water disappeared and civilization crumbled. Here, a galvanized civilization created water from nothingness.”
http://ensia.com/features/how-a-new-source-of-water-is-helping-reduce-conflict-in-the-middle-east/