Unused irrigation pumps are seen at the nearly empty Barada river in the Zabadani plain near Damascus April 13, 2009. The Barada, which is now almost dry, used to feed the Syrian capital and its now extinct gardens. Massive overuse, pollution, mismanagement and inadequate infrastructure have aggravated water shortages over the past decade in Syria, a major food and farm commodities player in the Middle East. To match feature SYRIA-WATER/ REUTERS/ Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA ENVIRONMENT)
REUTERS/KHALED AL-HARIRI