Among these, Brazil is exceptional in that many of its dams also serve to control river levels and provide irrigation, thus making them hard to regulate satisfactorily if privatised.

ECONOMIST: Brazil's energy crisis

Syria will reach the limit of food self-sufficiency in 10-35 years, depending on the effectiveness of its measures to improve irrigation efficiency and agricultural yields, and to control population growth.

ECONOMIST: Letters

Too much of this irrigation water is lost to evaporation, the water coverage is hard to control and wasted runoff can occur.

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