Water rights in Israel–Palestine

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Water sources

The Mountain Aquifer constitutes one of Israel-Palestine's chief water sources.[1] The Mountain Aquifer begins in the North of Israel and flows from the West Bank to the Mediterranean. The aquifer is composed of three groundwater basins: the western basin, the eastern basin and the northern basin. The replenishment zones for these aquifers are majoritarily located east of the green line; most of the aquifers themselves as well as the storage zones are located in Israeli territory.[2] The western basin, also known as the Yarkon-Taninim, is the most valuable to Israel as it has the highest storage capacity, the largest installed pumping rate, and constitutes the most of Israel's total water production from the three basins.[2] The Jordan River is the second of Israel-Palestine's chief water sources. The waters of this river also serve as a main water source for the surrounding Arab nations of Syria and Jordan.[3] In 1953, Israel began to construct its National Water Carrier as a means to divert the waters of the Jordan River to irrigate the coastal Sharon Plain and eventually the Negev Desert. The surrounding Arab Nations interpreted this as a threat to their stakes in the usage of the water and responded with their own plan to divert water from the Jordan River to the Yarmouk river.[4] Israel eventually backed off and moved its diversion plan elsewhere. Today each of the nations continue to draw water from the Jordan River basin.[5]

Current water use

In 2006, fresh water consumption in Israel was equivalent to 170 cubic meters per capita per year.[2] In the same year, Palestinian water consumption in the West Bank was measured at 100 cubic meters per capita per year.[2] The averages in both areas as well as in surrounding Arab countries have steadily declined since 1967 due to the effects of climate change.[2] Today, Israeli daily per capita consumption is estimated at 275 liters while Palestinian consumption is estimated at 75 liters.[6] The gap in consumption between the two groups has widened considerably in the last nine-ten years. Part of that statistic comes from the fact that 1.2 million Gazans have limited or no access to water.[7] Israeli policy does not deal directly with Gaza in terms of water allocation and distribution.[2] This is because the Gaza Aquifer, supplemented by water desalination processes, is alleged to be able to satisfy the water needs of the area.[2] In 2010, Hamas, the current governing authority in Gaza, embarked on an infrastructure development program in order to make Gaza more self-sufficient in terms of water supply.[8] The plan was not completed. Israel imposed on the plan because of suspicions that the tunnels and other infrastructure were going to be used for terrorist purposes.[9] Despite the presence of the Gaza Aquifer, 90% of potentially potable water in Gaza is currently undrinkable.[10] Overpumping is a large cause of this, as Gazans do not have the correct tools and infrastructure to utilize their water source.[10] Israel does supply water, however, to the West Bank. Israel sells water to the West Bank at a rate of 53 MCM (million cubic meters) of water per year.[11] Palestinians in the West Bank purchase about one third of their total water supply from Mekorot, Israel's national water agency.[10] As is also true for Israel, most water is consumed in the Agricultural sector of the West Bank.[12] Only about 5% of the West Bank is agricultural land.[12] Under the Oslo II Accord, 80% of water from the above named sources goes to Israel, and 20% to the Palestinians living in the West Bank.[10] Some argue that one reason Israel is so strict and careful with its water policy is because of how vulnerable the water supply naturally is. According to an Israeli Water Commission memorandum, "incorrect application of drilling on the West Bank could salinize the water reservoirs of the State of Israel.”[12]

History

The National Water Carrier was completed by Mekorot in 1964.[13] It consists of around 134 km of large pipes, tunnels, and reservoirs and around 34 km of open canals.[13] The water carrier channels an average of 380 MCM of water a year from the Kinneret.[13] Water from the Jordan River flows into the Kinneret, which is how Israel uses the water carrier to divert 75% of the water from the Jordan River to Israel.[6] The amount of fresh water that flows in the Jordan River as well as the Dead Sea has significantly declined as a result of this diversion. The Red Sea–Dead Sea Canal has been proposed as a way to remedy the shrinking, though right now it is only a proposal. After the 1967 War, Israel seized the West Bank from Jordan and began to regulate water usage in the area. It set pumping quotas and made it so that wells could not be dug without a permit.[14] Since 1967, permits have been granted for only 23 new wells.[6] Since then, efforts have been made toward fulfilling the rights of Palestinians to self-determination. One such effort is called the Oslo Process, which began in 1993. A segment of this deals with water rights.[15] The Oslo II agreement, also known as the Interim Agreement, was established in 1995. Under Oslo II, a Palestinian Water Authority was set up to manage and allocate the water supply allotted to Palestine by Israel.[6] Oslo II also included estimations of future Palestinian water usage in an effort to come to a concrete agreement for future allocations.[16] The Oslo treaty created a Joint Water Committee in order that the needs of both sides be represented. The committee outlined guidelines for the protection of both Israeli and Palestinian water supplies from contamination and pollution. The treaty was not meant to set permanent precedent; rather it was made as an interim period so that by its end, more concrete measures could be taken. The interim period ended in May 1999. And yet, many of the policies in place today are the same as what was outlined in the Oslo II Accords which was meant to be temporary.[10]

International law

The history of international water relations dates back to 2500 B.C. when two Sumarian city-states solved a dispute over water along the Tigris River.[17] Since then, negotiations have come a long way. In the last century, the focus of treaty-making over water has shifted towards the use, development and conservation of resources.[17] Since 1955, Jordan and Israel have held regular talks over the sharing of the Jordan River. International law considers states and institutions created by states as the only legitimate actors, which explains why Palestinians have not been as much a part of the conversation as some might argue they should be.[18] The ambiguity of international law tends to unintentionally favor Israel in this way: it is an established state while Palestinians are not yet united as a sovereign, internationally recognized entity. Experts have argued that water laws ought to be more concrete though this seems difficult because of the variation in each geographic space and each political situation. There is no formula for exactly how to divide up the waters. Some guidelines do exist, however, as a frame of reference . Many rules of law pertaining to shared water resources follow the precedent of The Helsinki Rules, an international guideline on the regulation of transnational rivers and their groundwaters. These rules rely on five principles: "reasonable and equitable utilization, avoidance of significant harm to other users or states, advance notification, consultation and negotiation,exchange of information, peaceful settlements of disputes."[18] These principles are largely seen as soft or customary law. After the Helsinki Rules were published, the U.N. began to research the topic of international water law which culminated in the formulation of the 1997 UN Convention on the NonNavigational Uses of International Watercourses.[2] This convention, like the Helsinki Rules, is also largely considered customary law.[2] The aquifers under dispute in Israel-Palestine are transboundary aquifers: in which a political boundary is between the outflow and recharge areas.[18] The international laws can be used toward policy making, though nothing concrete has yet been ratified.

Past proposals

After the First World War, the Jordan River Basin began to be seen as a problem of quantitative allocations.[18] Below is a brief timeline summarizing policy attempts related to sharing water in the Jordan River Basin between 1922 and 1955.

year policy objective
1922 British Palestine Mandate Formalized British rule in the Southern part of Ottoman Syria from 1923-1948. Also expressed favor for establishing Palestine as a Jewish State.[19]
1926 Rutenberg Concession Pinhas Rutenberg was a Jewish Zionist entrepreneur who was the driving force behind electricity in Palestine. This concession granted to utilize the waters of the Auja basin as well as Jordan and Yarmouk Rivers for the generation and supply of electricity in Palestine.[20]
1936 First regional water project delivered water to Western Galilee working toward establishing continuous flow of replenishable water source to the area.[21]
1937 Founding of Mekorot to perform and complete all goals and needs associated with distributing, measuring and producing water.[22]
1939 Ionides Plan Contained three recommendations: Yarmouk river floodwaters be diverted and stored in the Kinneret, that these stored waters be diverted and used to provide irrigation for lands east of the Jordan River, and that irrigation water in the Jordan River be primarily used for lands within the Jordan River Basin.[23]
1944 Lowdermilk Plan Suggested by Walter C. Lowdermilk, this was a plan to dig a seawater canal from Haifa Bay to the Dead Sea to generate hydroelectric power on a vast scale.[24]
1951 Murdoch Macdonald Corporation Report commissioned by Jordanian Government proposed extension of irrigation in the Jordan Valley.[25]
1952 Main Plan Favored primary in-basin use of Jordan waters and ruled out integration of the Litani River. It designated provisional quotas to Israel, Jordan and Syria.[26]
1953 Construction of National Water Carrier begins To transfer water from Kinneret to the center of the country and the dry southern region. Enabled efficient use of water and regulation of the water supply in the country.[27]
1953 Initial Johnston Plan The attainment of an agreement which guaranteed the availability of water for the irrigation of crops for populations surrounding the Jordan River Basin.[28]
1954 Cotton Plan Israel's counter-proposal to the Main Plan, which included the Litani river, required out-of-basin transfers and identified Lake Tiberias as a storage facility.[29]
1954 Arab Plan Offered by the Arab League Technical Committee as another counter proposal to the Main Plan, it excluded the Litani River, promoted in-basin use, and rejected storage in Lake Tiberias.[29]
1955 Modified Johnston Report Designated water consumption of the Jordan River; 60% was to be used by Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, with the remaining 40% to be allocated to Israel. It postponed discussions on the use of Lake Tiberias as storage for five years.[21]

Between 1955 and the beginning of the Oslo Process, there was little attempt at policy making in regards to shared bodies of water.[18]

References

  1. ↑ Jad Isaac, "Core Issues of the Palestinian Israeli Water Dispute", ARIJ
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 "The Issue of Water Between Israel and Palestinians", World Bank, March 2009.
  3. ↑ "War over Water", Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, 23 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Avi Shlaim, The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World. "Penguin Books." pp. 229, 230. ISBN 978-0-14-028870-4
  5. ↑ "Water politics in the Jordan River", Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, 18 March 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "The Right to Water in Palestine: A Background", "Center for Economic and Social Rights, 13 May 2015.
  7. ↑ Elizabeth Ferris "Gaza: No Safe Place for Civilians", "Brookings" 12 July 2014
  8. ↑ Salman Shaikh "Don't Forget Gaza", "Brookings" 24 January 2011
  9. ↑ Shlomo Eldar "Israel still refuses to run water to Rawabi, "Al-Monitor" 27 October 2013
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Amira Hass "The Israeli 'watergate' scandal: The facts about Palestinian water", "Haaretz", 16 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "Discriminatory Water Supply, "B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories"
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Joe Stork "Water and Israel's Occupation Strategy, "Middle East Research and Information Project"
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Zafrir Rinat, "Eco-logic || Israel's National Water Carrier: both boom and bane", Haaretz, 26 June 2014.
  14. ↑ LAW ["An Overview of the consequences of Israeli Occupation on the environment in the West Bank and Gaza”], 2000.
  15. ↑ "Oslo Accords", "Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia", 26 April 2015.
  16. ↑ "Oslo II Accords", "Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia", 23 August 2014.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Transboundary Waters", "UNDESA", 2004-2006.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 David B. Brooks and Julie Trottier, "An Agreement to Share Water Between Israelis and Palestinians: the FoEME proposal", "FoEME", March 2012
  19. ↑ "British Mandate", "Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia", 8 May 2015.
  20. ↑ Margit, Cohen "Energy Law In Israel", "Kluwer Law International", 2010.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Water in Israel: Israel's Chronic Water Problem, "Jewish Virtual Library".
  22. ↑ Mordechai Naor, "The Founding of Mekorot", 1984.
  23. ↑ David B. Brooks and Stephen C. Lonergan, "Watershed: the role of freshwater in the Israeli Palestinian Conflict", "International Development Research", 1994.
  24. ↑ "Walter C. Lowdermilk", "Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia", 27 April 2015.
  25. ↑ Samir N. Saliba, "The Jordan River Dispute", "Springer", 2012.
  26. ↑ "Managing Water for Peace", "United Nations University"
  27. ↑ "National Water Carrier of Israel", "Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia", 26 April 2015.
  28. ↑ Aquastat, "Jordan", "FAO",
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Ahmed Abukhater, "Water as a Catalyst for Peace: Transboundary Water Management and Conflict Resolution", "Routledge", 2013.
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