Title: Water issues and conflict in the Middle East
1Water issues and conflict in the Middle East
- If we solve every other problem in the Middle
East but do not satisfactorily resolve the water
problem, our region will explode. (Yitzhak Rabin
in Klare 2001 141)
2Water and War
- The next war in the Middle East will be
over water, not politics. (Boutros
Boutros-Ghali, Secretary General, United Nations) - The only matter that could take Egypt to war
again is water. (Anwar Sadat, President of
Egypt) - Water is the one issue that could drive nations
of the region to war. (King Hussein, Jordan) - Many of the wars in this century were about oil,
but wars of the next century will be about
water.(Ismail Serageldin, Vice President, World
Bank)
3Water and Conflict
- Water is not distributed uniformly around the
globe, and has been a source of tension wherever
water resources are shared by neighboring
peoples. - Globally, there are more than 250 water bodies
shared by more than one country.
4WATER - A RENEWABLE OR FINITE RESOURCE?
- Water is critical for life, food production, and
industrial processes. - 9 out of 14 Southwest Asian states face
water-short conditions (the most concentrated
region of scarcity in the world).
5Water Supply
- Southwest Asian countries often get into disputes
over their policies on water rights and other
natural resources. - Water rights are agreements about how countries
can use the water in a region. - Water rights often cause political disputes.
6Facts about water and water scarcity in the ME
- According to the World Bank the amount one human
needs in order to remain alive and healthy is 100
to 200 litres per day! - Less than 3 percent of worlds overall water is
fresh water, less than 1 percent of the fresh
water supply is accessible to humans. - World Bank Eleven countries in the ME have
annual per capita supplies at or less than 100
cubic meters - Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Libya, Morocco,
Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab
Emirates and Yemen
7Water Issues in the Middle East
- WATER
- Only 3 countries in the Middle East do not need
to depend on outside fresh water - Iran, Egypt, and Turkey
- 2/3 of the Middle East depend on water from
outside their borders - Jordan is one of the most water scarce countries
in the world.
One of the 504 dams in Turkey
8- Water Issues in the Middle East
- gt90 of population growth will be in developing
countries where clean water supplies are low. - Nine countries in the Middle East use gt100 of
their renewable water supply (depleting
groundwater). - Egypt depends entirely on the Nile to irrigate
crops. Ethopia controls 80 of Niles flow
upstream and plans to divert water for itself.
Could be catastrophic for Egypt.
9Water Situation
- Saudi Arabia, have almost no water.
- They are mostly made up of desert.
- Iran has areas with access to rivers and areas
that are made up of deserts. - Because water is in short supply in so many parts
of Southwest Asia, irrigation has been necessary
for those who want to farm and raise animals for
market. - People must live where there is water.
10North Africa / Middle East, Mean Annual
Precipitation (mm)
Sahara
11Fresh Groundwater Sources
12 13Water Pollution in the Middle East
- There are many serious environmental problems in
the Middle East. - The water supply is very limited and finding
fresh water for farming or drinking is a struggle
throughout the region. - Israel has very few fresh water sources and the
Sea of Galilee provides its primary supply of
drinking water.
14Water Pollution in the Middle East
- Water pollution caused by oil spills from
drilling, refineries and shipping sometimes leak
into rivers and water supplies. - This impact irrigation and drinking water because
it causes health hazards. - Some countries are adjusting/adapting to the
limited amount of water resources available by
building desalination facilities to remove salt
from salt water.
15Pollution
- The process of refining oil also creates
pollution. - Refining oil means making oil from the ground
ready to use in machines. - Refining oil produces toxic chemicals.
- This is an enormous problem for the environment
in the Southwest Asia.
16What are the sanitation and health impacts of
limited water supplies?
- Over a billion people today lack access to clean
drinking water in the developing world, and
nearly 2.5 billion lack access to adequate
sanitation services. - These numbers will grow in the years ahead.
- Water-related diseases are a growing human
tragedy, killing more than 5 million people each
year.
17Sanitation and health impacts of limited water
supplies (continued)
- Every day, easily prevented diarrheal diseases
cause some 6,000 deaths, mostly children under 5.
- Diarrheal diseases have killed more children in
the past 10 years than all the people lost to
armed conflict since World War II. - About 60 million children annually reach maturity
stunted due to severe nutrient loss and
complications from multiple diarrheal episodes.
18Examples of Conflicts over Water
19Water conflicts in the past
- Destruction of Babylonian irrigation systems as
retribution by Assyrians -
- Modern period
- Fashoda Crisis in southern Sudan in 1898 between
France and Britain - Water conflicts during Cold War
- Arab-Israeli War of 1967 (control over river
Jordan) - Syria and Iraq almost went to war in 1975 (Syria
filled up Lake Assad, and reduced flow of
Euphrates River) - 1990 Turkey blocked flow of Euphrates to fill up
its own reservoirs
20Hydropolitics and geopolitics
Political negotiations centred on conflicts over
the shared use of water sources
- The Nile is the worlds longest river , 6,500kms,
2.9km2 catchment,10 of Africa, running through
10 countries with 360 million people depending
on it for survival. - Growing issues of desertification salination
and increased evaporation linked to climate
change - About 85 water originates from Eritrea and
Ethiopia, but 94 is used by Sudan and Egypt.
- History of hydropolitics in Nile Basin
- tensions due to the dominance of Egypt
- civil wars in Sudan Ethiopia
- tensions from Egypts treaties dating back to
the 1929 and 1959 Nile Water Agreements. - Upstream states increasingly challenging Egypts
dominance. - Ethiopia wants to use the Nile River for HEP
plants and industrial development.
- Evidence of more effective co-operation
- The Nile Basin Initiative, system of cooperative
management which started late 1990s - All countries except Eritrea working with The
World Bank and bi-lateral aid donors . - Community level involvement .
- Managers visited Colorado River recently to see
how effectively the 1922 River Water Compact
and its law of the river works
Tech Fix The megaprojects of dams like Aswan
are famous. Latest high tech is the 1990sproject
called Tecconile a joint GIS system to help
monitor and plan the basin
- 1996 Helsinki Rules on the Uses of the Waters of
International Rivers - regulating how
transboundary rivers and groundwater are managed - The Nile Basin is an example that Water Wars
may be averted
21Water issues in the Middle East
In the Northern region Turkey is in dispute with
Syria and Iraq over damming more of the Tigris
and Euphrates river
- There are significant disputes over access to
water already in this area - The combination of a growing population and low
seasonal rainfall are the main causes. - Is the energy dependent technological fix of
desalination the answer? - Photo of a plant in Dubai
The Aral Sea, on the boundary of the Middle East
and Asia is suffering from over abstraction and
pollution
In the Western Region Israelis,
Syrians, Jordanians and Lebanese are all in
dispute over shrinking water supplies A
contributory factor to the 1967 Arab-Israeli
war Water storage is in 3 huge aquifers under the
Israeli mountains and coastal strip and the R
Jordan
22Conflict over the Tigris and Euphrates River
23Euphrates River
- The Euphrates River flows through Turkey, Syria,
and Iraq. - These countries all rely on the Euphrates for
farming and for electricity. - The river begins in Turkey and flows to the
Persian Gulf. - Turkey built two dams on the Euphrates in 1984 to
harness its power for electricity.
24Conflict over the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
- The Euphrates and Tigris provides water for much
of Syria and Iraq however, they begin in Turkey.
- Turkey has been trying to build hydroelectric
dams which would reduce the water supply to the
other 2 countries. - Syria built its own dams in response cutting
off even more water to Iraq.
25Dam Buiding
- These dams make the river less powerful. Syria
also built a dam on the Euphrates. - By the time the river reaches Iraq, it is much
smaller and less powerful than it was originally.
- Water supply in Iraq is also diminished and
farming is very difficult. - In 1975, a war almost broke out between Syria and
Iraq over water rights.
26- Fresh water supplies are available only in small
amounts - Dams are very controversial in this region as
they affect multiple countries at once.
27Water Conflict between Israel and Jordan
28Conflict Between Israel and Jordan over Water
Supplies
- The Jordan River is the major source of water for
both Israel and Jordan - Early 1950sIsrael wanted to cultivate additional
desert land -gt built a new pipeline to bring
water from the Jordan River to the Negev Desert - Called the National Water Carrier, an integrated
network of pumping stations, reservoirs, canals
and pipelines - Pipelines became the central water supply for
Israel but pipeline was a threat to Jordans
water supply
29Conflict Between Israel and Jordan over Water
Supplies
- Downstream users in Jordan could not get the
water they needed - Border clashes between Jordan and Israel
- 1967 Israeli Jordanian War
- Israel won and occupied the Golan Heights Israel
also - Gained complete control of the Upper Jordan River
- Jordan could not tap as much water from the
Jordan River - Critical shortage of water in Jordan
30Conflict Between Israel and Jordan over Water
Supplies
- Israel also
- Destroyed a dam Jordan was constructing on the
Yarmouk River during the war - Diverted large amounts of water from the Yarmouk
River into Lake Tiberias - Obstructed all attempts by Jordan to build a
water storage system to improve its water supply
31Conflict Between Israel and Jordan over Water
Supplies
Golan Heights
Yarmouk River
Lake Tiberias
32Conflict Between Israel and Jordan over Water
Supplies
- Steps Taken and Results
- Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty
- Both agree to share the Jordan River and provide
each other with water - Both agree to build dams and create storage
facilities to hold excess rainwater
33Water Issues Between the Israelis and Palestinians
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36Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinians
- Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinians on the West
Bank, all depend on many of the same scarce water
resources. - Israel has the most power, so it has been most
effective in claiming water. - Much Israeli water is also cleaned after it is
used once, and is then reused. - Ways have to be found to make sure that everyone
has access to enough water.
37Equitable Distribution
- River Jordan (Israel 100 Palestine 0)
- Coastal Aquifer (Israel 82 Palestine 18)
- 3. Mountain Aquifer (Israel 83 Palestine 17)
- 4. Other Sources (Israel 100 Palestine
0) - Per capita consumption (1994)
- Israelis 344m3/yr
- Palestinians 93m3/yr
- Israelis consume (4 x more) per head
38Water for Palestinian Israelis
- In Israel itself 90,000 Palestinian Israeli
citizens live in unrecognised villages. - Although these villages often pre-date the
establishment of the state of Israel, Israel
refuses to recognise their existence and
consequently denies them all municipal services
water, electricity, health care, education, etc. - In addition the land they are built on is zoned
for Jewish only settlement so their homes are
subject to demolition.
39Permits for Wells
- In 1967 - 140 Palestinian wells were destroyed.
- As 227,500 Palestinians have no access to piped
water and a further 190,000 have only limited
access (BTselem) wells are frequently vital for
communities survival. - Permits for new wells can go through up to 18
stages of approval. - A permit is required to use your own well.
Having a permit to use your well does not assure
access to it - Between 1967 and 1996 a total of 13 permits were
given to Palestinians. All were for domestic use
only, not a single agricultural well! - "A pattern starts to emerge where it appears
that the Israelis are deliberately trying to
sabotage Palestinian efforts to both access and
fully develop their water resources, (Oxfam).
40Permits Wastewater
- More than 90 of all West Bank wastewater is
untreated, only 1 plant is operating. - Only one in five Palestinian families in West
Bank are connected to sewage systems. - 69 use outdated septic tanks (often
prohibitively expensive to maintain and empty).
Several construction permits are required to
build a new tank. - The German government has repeatedly offered to
build fully funded sewage treatment facilities in
the West Bank, only for Israel to block their
proposal. - Palestines capacity to treat wastewater has
been systematically retarded by Israel, (The
World Bank).
41West Bank Barrier and Water Issues
42West Bank Water Pollution
- 91 mcm of wastewater is discharged annually into
the West Bank, 38 from Israeli sources. - Jerusalem pipes half of its 35 mcm to the east,
creating the raw sewage nightmare of Wadi Kadrun.
- 40 settlements east of the Green Line are not
connected to any waste water facility. Others do
not function and spill excrement onto the
Palestinian villages below them. - There is no real life there - it is just waste
water, Iyad Aburdeieneh, Palestinian Deputy
Director of Friends of the Earth Middle East. -
43Settler Water Use
- Settlers consume 10 of all West Bank water
- 95 of settler use is agricultural.
- Palestinian private and domestic use totals
63m3/yr. - Recent figures suggest settlers use could be as
much as 800m3/yr.
44West Bank Settlements
- All settlements are illegal under International
Humanitarian Law. - Settlements are generally built on hills close
to or upon the best wells and water supply.
Lands settlements are built upon are
re-designated as state lands allowing for new
wells to be drilled. The impenetrable permit
system only applies to Palestinians.
45West Bank Aquifer aka Mountain Aquifer
- WESTERN BASIN
- largest and most abundant
- lies in Israel and part of West Bank but it is
recharged by precipitation that falls in West
Bank - historically used by Palestinians, then with
Jewish migration into Palestine at end of 19th
century, water became shared - 1920s/30s intensive exploitation of resources by
Jewish settlers which was then promoted further
by Israel between 1948 and 1967 - This continued after Six Days War and now more
than 90 of basin used by Israel -
46West Bank Aquifer
- NORTH-EASTERN BASIN
- Also considered to be transboundary
- EASTERN BASIN
- Lies entirely within the West Bank
- Used exclusively by Palestinian farmers and
villagers until 1967
47Mountain Aquifer Water Use
- Israelis 73
- Palestinians 17
- Illegal Israeli settlers 10
- The daily per capita consumption in Israel is
242 liters in urban areas and 211 liters in rural
communities (in 2007). - By comparison, the consumption in the West Bank
is 73 liters per person (in 2008). In certain
districts, consumption was as low as 37 liters
(Tubas District), 44 (Jenin District), and 56
(Hebron District). (BTselem (2010). - According to the Palestinian Hydrology Group,
(2003) 7 of communities subsist on 30 litres/day
or less and 36 of communities subsist on between
30 and 50 litres/day. - The World Health Organisation recommended
minimum is 100 litres/day - Similarly in Israel around 95 of irrigable land
is irrigated. In the West Bank the figure is
only 25-33. (Philip Mattar Encyclopedia of the
Palestinians).
48West Bank Aquifer
- Hydrological matters additional dimension to
conflict - Water resources often coincide with disputed land
and are transboundary in nature e.g Israel
receives more than 50 its water from Arab
territories - Emerged mainly since 1960s
- After 1967 war (water one of issues to initiate
war) Israeli policies and institutions extended
to occupied territories
49West Bank Aquifer
- Now, Israel using nearly 80 of West Bank waters.
- Palestinian plight further compounded by fact
they are forced to pay higher rates for their
water supply - Huge discrepancies between water allocated to
Palestinians and Israelis - Also further tension due to Palestines claims to
share of Jordan river
50West Bank Aquifer
- Water needed for domestic use but also vital for
agriculture - 80 of water resources assigned to irrigation of
crops in Israel and West Bank - Agriculture represents 25 of Palestinian GDP.
- In Israel agriculture is 4
- BUT per capita, Israel uses 4 times more water
than Palestine annually
51Water, Land Confiscation and the Wall
- 80 of the illegal wall is built on Palestinian
Land so far 25 wells and cisterns and 35,000
meters of water pipes have been destroyed and
many more wells and 200 cisterns have been
isolated from their owners. - The Wall will also put much of the Western
Aquifer and on the Israeli side. - In addition around 45 of the West Bank is
designated as closed military zones, state lands
or nature reserves. These lands often correlate
with the major water resources and thereby put
these reserves beyond use for Palestinians.
52Water and the Wall
- Dr Alan MacDonald British Geological Survey
53Water and the Wall
- A 1999 study examining the economic viability of
drilling in the West Bank found that the most
productive sites were along the 1949 armistice
line. It reported - 1. Groundwater development from both the Upper
and Lower Aquifers is most economical in a narrow
zone around the 1949 Armistice Line in the
northern part of the West Bank. Costs
significantly increase with distance from the
Armistice Line. This is a fact not lost on those
developing the aquiferthis is where most of the
operational boreholes are located - 2. There are areas of the Upper Aquifer that
cannot be properly developed. In fact, only a
small area around Qalqilya and Tulkarem can be
developed economically. Any slight eastern
migration of the Palestinian border will have a
serious effect on the ability of the Palestinians
to develop this aquifer. The separation wall,
which is being built to the east of the Armistice
Line in Palestinian territory, will therefore
significantly reduce the ability of the
Palestinians to develop groundwater resources in
the Western Aquifer Basin - 3. Pumping costs significantly increase with
distance from the Armistice Line, (Calow et al.
2003).
54The Wall and Drainage
- The wall deeply affects the hydrology of the
watersheds, representing a barrier to the storm
water causing serious flooding in adjacent
villages. - In some locations the wall blocks the passage of
sewage along traditional drainage channels. The
backed up sewage can flood homes, shops or lands. - In Qalqilya following heavy rains in 2005
Israeli soldiers refused to open drainage pipes.
The area flooded damaging a poultry farm, several
houses and a girls elementary school.
55Attempted Agreements in Palestinian-Israeli Water
Conflict
- Johnston Plan 1953
- The signing of the Declaration of Principles
September 1993 - Israeli-Jordanian Peace Treaty of October 1994
- Oslo Accords
56Gaza Strip Water Issues
57The Coastal Aquifer Gaza
- The Coastal Aquifer is Gazas only water supply.
- Water consumption is 140 litres per person per
day. - The coastal aquifer is over-exploited and is
becoming contaminated by sea water and raw
sewage. - According to Amnesty International the water
situation in Gaza has reached crisis point with
between 90 and 95 of water unfit for human
consumption. -
- UN scientists estimate that within 15 years Gaza
will have no drinkable water.
58Gaza Water and Health
- The Palestinian Water Authority estimates that
almost 40 of the incidence of disease in Gaza is
related to polluted drinking water. - According to international NGOs 20 of Gazan
families have at least one child under five who
suffers from diarrhoea as a result of polluted
water. - B'Tselem reports "A UN study published in 2009
estimates that diarrhea is the cause of 12 of
children's deaths in Gaza. The lack of potable
drinking water is liable to cause malnutrition in
children and affect their physical and cognitive
development. - In 2007 current Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu
suggested that Israel could cut off all water to
Gaza.
59Gaza War Damage
- The 2009 Damage Assessment Report, CMWU speaks
of 5.97 million damage to Gazas water and
wastewater treatment facilities and
infrastructure. - In central Gaza the largest wastewater treatment
plant in the Gaza Strip was shelled causing
pipelines to rupture and raw sewage to flood more
than a square kilometre of agricultural and
residential land. - Much of the damage was to pipelines torn up by
Israeli tanks and bulldozers. Pipes are among the
items Israeli authorities bar from entering Gaza. -
- Palestinian Government sources say that more
than 800 of Gazas 2,000 water wells were
destroyed or rendered un-useable.
60Gaza and the Siege
- "Since the beginning of the siege Israel has
prohibited the entry of equipment and materials
that can be used to improve water quality and
taste, and to develop and rehabilitate the water
infrastructure and the wastewater treatment
facilities in Gaza The equipment needed includes
water pumps, pipes, generators, computers,
building cement and chloride, BTselem. - In 2007 sewage deluged northern Gaza when the
treatment facility was shelled 5 drowned. - More than two-thirds of Gaza's 4,000
agricultural water wells rely on fuel powered
pumps and shortages of fuel are leaving crops to
die. -
61Conclusions
- Issues of quantity, quality and distribution
- Water important factor in conflict in region and
as demand outweighs supply, multi-lateral
agreements are only way forward - Water scarcity increasing year by year due to
population growth, over-exploitation and
pollution - Although water scarcity and distribution causes
conflict, maybe, the severity of the water crisis
could breed cooperation between Palestine and
Israel?
62- Resolving the water conflict will not bring
peace to the region. However, peace is not
attainable without a solution to the water
conflict