Following threats from US President Donald Trump on Sunday (March 22), Iran has warned that if its fuel and energy infrastructure is attacked, it will target water desalination infrastructure used by the United States and Israel in West Asia.This is the latest threat to water plants, which are vital for meeting the water requirements of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They also host key US military bases.Just how crucial are desalination plants for the water security of Gulf countries? It turns out, quite a bit.How many water desalination stations do the Gulf countries have?In all, Gulf countries reported 172 water desalination stations in 2018, with Oman accounting for the most (65 stations), followed by Saudi Arabia (44), the UAE (40), Qatar (9), Kuwait (8) and Bahrain (6), as per the database available on the GCC Statistical Centre’s portal.These stations have a combined capacity of 22 billion litres per day, with actual annual desalinated water production at 6,053 billion litres. The plants are located in coastal areas.In Saudi Arabia, the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) runs several desalination plants, including Ras Al-Khair, Jeddah, Yanbu, and Al-Shuqaiq. In 2018, Saudi Arabia launched the AlKhafji Desalination Plant, which was termed the world’s largest solar-powered water desalination project. It has the capacity to produce up to 90,000 m³ of clean water per day, providing water to over 15 lakh people.Explained | So you just bought an induction cooktop. Here’s how it worksSuch plants have, however, also come under criticism for the fact that reverse osmosis, the predominant desalination method, generates large quantities of saltwater brine. This is usually discharged into the ocean and can harm marine habitats and sea creatures.Story continues below this adWhy does the Gulf need so many desalination plants?The Gulf countries, covering an area of 2.67 million square km (about 81% of India’s geographic area), receive very low rainfall, ranging from 4 to 30 cm. The total precipitation was just 281.91 billion cubic metres in 2018 — just 7% of what India receives in a year (about 4,000 billion cubic metres).The GCC countries do not have rivers, but wadis, which have water available only during rainfall. The total groundwater abstraction (freshwater extracted from the ground) was recorded at 26,495 million cubic metres across the six countries in 2018, as per the GCC Statistical Centre database. With no river, scanty rainfall, and limited non-renewable groundwater, the GCC countries are heavily dependent on the desalination of seawater to meet their water needs.For instance, Qatar and Bahrain meet more than half their water requirements from desalination plants, while Kuwait and the UAE meet 40-50% of their water demand through them. Saudi Arabia and Oman also have a high dependency.Also Read | Iran war: Why Ras Laffan and South Pars attacks compound India’s worriesAs per the GCC Statistical Centre, the total population of all six Gulf countries was 5.7 crore in 2020 (almost equal to the population size of Andhra Pradesh). The most populous country is Saudi Arabia (3.5 crore population, which is equal to that of Kerala), followed by the UAE (92 lakh, or a population less than Uttarakhand’s), Oman (46 lakh) and Kuwait (44 lakh, or a little above than Tripura’s population), Qatar (27 lakh, less then Manipur) and Bahrain (14.72 lakh, which was equal to Puducherry’s population).Story continues below this adStill, population growth, increasing urbanisation and economic growth have added to the water demand over time.How have desalination plants been affected due to the war?Iran’s state media reported Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for a civil and military construction company, stating that any attack on Iranian energy infrastructure would trigger the strikes on US-Israeli “fuel, energy, information technology and desalination infrastructure”.Just days ago, Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior posted on X that “Iranian aggression indiscriminately attacked civilian targets and caused material damage to a water desalination plant following a drone attack.”Story continues below this adIran also claimed an attack. “The U.S. committed a blatant and desperate crime by attacking a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm island. Water supply in 30 villages has been impacted. Attacking Iran’s infrastructure is a dangerous move with grave consequences. The U.S. set this precedent, not Iran,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi posted on X on March 7.