Water Issues and Conflict in the Middle East

1
Water 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)

2
Water 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)

3
Water 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.

4

• Current Water Situation in Middle East Region

5
WATER - 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).

6
Water 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.

7
Facts 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

8
Water 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
9

• 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.

10
Water 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.

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North Africa / Middle East, Mean Annual
Precipitation (mm)
Sahara
12
Fresh Groundwater Sources
13

• Water Pollution

14
Pollution

• 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.

15
Water 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.

16
Water 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.

17
Examples of Conflicts over Water in the Middle
East

• Overview

18
Water Conflicts of the Middle East 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

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Hydropolitics 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

20
Water 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
21
Conflict over the Tigris and Euphrates River
22
Euphrates 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.

23
Conflict 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.

24
Dam 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.

25

• Fresh water supplies are available only in small
  amounts
• Dams are very controversial in this region as
  they affect multiple countries at once.

26
Water Conflict between Israel and Jordan
27
Conflict 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

28
Conflict 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

29
Conflict 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

30
Conflict Between Israel and Jordan over Water
Supplies
Golan Heights
Yarmouk River
Lake Tiberias
31
Conflict 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

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Water Issues Between the Israelis and Palestinians
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Israel, 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.

36
Equitable 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

37
Water 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.

38
Permits 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).

39
Permits 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).

40
West Bank Barrier and Water Issues
41
West 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.

42
Settler 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.

43
West 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.

44
West 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

45
West 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

46
Mountain 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).

47
West 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

48
West 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

49
West 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

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Water, 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.

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Water and the Wall

• Dr Alan MacDonald British Geological Survey

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Water 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).

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The 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.

54
Attempted 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

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Gaza Strip Water Issues
56
The 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.

57
Gaza 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.

58
Gaza 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.

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Gaza 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.

60
Conclusions

• 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?

61

• Resolving the water conflict will not bring
  peace to the region. However, peace is not
  attainable without a solution to the water
  conflict