Saudi Wells Running Dry — of Water — Spell End of Desert Wheat

  • Riyadh will import all the wheat needed for 2016 consumption
  • Aquifers that had irrigated wheat crops depleting rapidly

Cultured farms in sit in Saudi Arabia.

Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
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For decades, only a few features punctuated the vastness of the Saudi desert: oil wells, oases -- and wheat fields.

QuickTake Drought