Water Wars in the Middle East

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Water Wars in the Middle East

• Jamie Herskovits Eric Schorr

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Background Information

• One of the most critical regions of current and
  future water scarcity.
• Has one of the lowest per capita water
  availabilities worldwide, does not allow enough
  food production for self sufficiency.
• Due to high population growth rates and economic
  development, water demand is rapidly increasing.
• Climate predictions for the eastern
  Mediterranean, derived from large-scale climate
  models, indicate future aridification and
  increasing variability of precipitation.
• Trend of draughts in recent years.

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Background (continued)

• Agriculture and irrigation consume more than two
  thirds of the regional water resources.
• Most water sources are located in the upper basin
  of the Jordan River, from where large amounts of
  water are exported to the south and beyond the
  basin.
• A number of water use conflicts arise from this
  situation and from the fact that the Jordan River
  and regional aquifers are transboundary
  resources.
• Strategies for sustainable management of the
  regional water resources have to be based on
  collaboration between the various regional
  stakeholders and on a sound scientific knowledge.
  
• Tragedy of the commons

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Jordan Basin Imagery
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Imagery (continued)
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Crunching Numbers
Water Resources and Use (MCM/YR)
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Regional Ecosystems

• Diverse
• Four different bio-geographic regions meet in the
  Jordan River basin
• Regional ecosystems very vulnerable to changes in
  climate, specifically with
• - ecosystem functioning
• - species composition
• - distribution of vegetation types

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Current Status The Conflicts

• Violence broke out in the mid-1960s over an
  "all-Arab" plan to divert the river's headwaters
  (itself a preemptive move to thwart Israel's
  intention to siphon water from the Sea of
  Galilee)
• Israel and Syria sporadically exchanged fire
  between March 1965 and July 1966. Water-related
  tensions in the basin persisted for decades and
  only recently have begun to dissipate.
• Has always been water conflict between these two
  nations, for thousands of years. Has come to
  represent the conflict between the two nations
• This most arid, populated region has had conflict
  heighten since the partitioning of the Jewish
  state
• Violence between nations increase tension within
  water related issues
• Without proper political and economic discussion,
  water issues cannot be brought to the negotiating
  table without sustained peace
• Solving the crisis depends on all parties mutual
  involvement

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Resolutions

• General methods for averting potential water
  conflict, include
• Promotion of greater water-use efficiency
• Decrease agricultural consumption by developing
  more efficient crops and methodologies
• Sustainable use and management of surface and
  ground water
• Promotion of education stressing that water
  shortages are a common problem requiring
  cooperative solutions
• Improvement of communication among those who
  determine water policy within and across
  watersheds.
• Consideration of decision-making at a regional
  level encompassing multiple watersheds
• Establishment of a regional commission to manage
  water jointly, and
• Greater use of strategic scenarios as management
  and education tools
• Some experts asserted that once the political
  problems in the region are solved the water
  problems will take care of themselves
• Peace treaties
• 1967 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, the
  two countries agreed to share the waters of the
  Jordan River as well as the Yarmouk, a tributary
  river.
• Under the terms of the 1991 Oslo agreement,
  Israel must provide the Palestinian Authority
  with 57 cubic meters of water per year for each
  Palestinian.

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Resolutions (continued)

• Israeli Resolutions
• wells
• pipelines
• canals
• recharge basins
• drip irrigation
• waste water recharge
• Desalination
• Proposed Plan
• Red Sea-Dead Sea canal/pipeline connection from
  Aqaba to the Dead Sea. Water will be pumped up
  125m/410 ft from the Red Sea to a 45 km long
  tunnel portal, which will carry it beneath the
  220m/722 ft crest of the Arava Valley, then
  plunge some 533m/1,750 ft to the South Basin of
  the Dead Sea. This water will be used to generate
  electricity and can be processed by reverse
  osmosis for desalination using the available
  pressure head generated by the extreme fall.

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What Needs To Be Done

• Development of additional water resources
• Establishment of proposals to protect the
  environment.
• Participation of stakeholders in the development
  and implementation of the strategy
• Training of graduates in water and environmental
  fields.
• Education of the public in water issues and
  creating trust in the cooperation process in a
  transparent and clear way, and by concentrating
  on benefits and public interests
• Establishment of joint information and database
  for the Jordan River Basin
• Promotion of confidence building measures to
  reach sustainable cooperation in the place of
  water and political disputes
• This gap can only be bridged by improving the
  management of water resources and use, and the
  rationing of water with priority for drinking and
  regional cooperation

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Steps need to be taken in order to preserve this
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Bibliography

• http//www.glowa.org/eng/jordan/jordan_overview.ht
  m
• http//yale.edu/ceo/Projects/swap/Project/irrigati
  on.html
• http//www.wws.princeton.edu/wws401c/geography.htm
  l
• ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/aln44/charrier.html
• www.irinnews.org/webspecials/runningdry/55528.asp
  
• http//www.x-cd.com/usma/prof30.html
• www.globalpolicy.org/security/natres/water/2001/10
  01fpol.htm