NOT ENOUGH TO GO NOT ENOUGH TO GO AROUND:AROUND:Battles Over Water Apportionment, Battles Over Water Apportionment, Pollution and Replenishment in the Pollution and Replenishment in the Middle EastMiddle EastJ. David Rogers, Ph.D., P.E., R.G. Department of Geological Sciences & EngineeringUniversity of [email protected] End of East African Rift ZoneCROSSROADSBETWEENTWOCONTINENTSThe Jordan River Valley/Dead Sea Transform liesbetween theArabian andSinai tectonicplates, at the northend of the East African-Syrian riftWATER WATER RESOURCES AND RESOURCES AND POLITICAL POLITICAL BOUNDARIESBOUNDARIESISRAEL, JORDAN, SYRIA, LEBANON, EGYPT and thePALESTINIAN AUTHORITYare linked by COMMON AQUIFERSandWATERSHEDSANNUAL RAINFALL vs EVAPORATION• The Jordan River is the only significant watercourse in the Holy Land. Born on the slopes of Mt. Hermon (el. 9232 ft).• Three principal tributaries meet in Hula Valley, two from the Golan Heights secured by Israel from Syria in June ‘67 War• Average annual flow of about 1.5 million acre-feet• The Jordan River follows the East Africa-Syrian Rift, flowing southward into the Dead Sea transform, now 417 m (1,368 ft) below sea level• The dry Wadi Arava flows to the Dead Sea from a drainage divide 220 m (722 ft) above sea levelSEA OF GALILEE• The Sea of Galilee lies in a down-faulted graben, about 700 feet below sea level• It covers an area of 64 square miles• Less than 145 ft deep• The Sea contains 3,257,690 acre-feet of fresh water (about 70% capacity of California’s Lake Shasta)THE “NATIONAL RESERVOIR”• The Sea of Galilee [Sea of Kineret] and Jordan River supply about 75% of Jordan’s and 30% of Israel’s annual water consumptionTHE JOHNSTON WATER PLAN• In 1953-55 U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Eric Johnston hammered out a cooperative agreement for sharing the Jordan River system between Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Israel.• The shares of each country were based on how much irrigable land it had, so Lebanon and Syria got the least, even though those two countries produce the most water.• The agreement was honored for 12 years, from July 1955 until the June 1967 Arab-Israeli WarKING ABDULLAH CANAL• Between 1957-1961 the Jordanians built their 110-km long East Ghor Canal• This brings water from the Sea of Galilee to the east side of the Jordan River Valley• Recently renamed the King Abdullah CanalISRAEL’S NATIONAL WATER CARRIER• National Water Carrier canal is a conveyance and distribution system the Israelis began in 1958. • Water is lifted 372 m from Sea of Galilee and conveyed southward, into populous areas along the coast and the Negev Desert• Extended and connected to numerous pipelines since 1964, using intermediary pump stations• 80% of conveyed water is used for agricultureMIDDLE EAST IMPASS 1967-1994• The World Bank will not fund water resources projects unless all entitiesin the watershed agree on a protocol spelling out management responsibilities and apportionment for such developments.Forging cooperation between stake holders• The Jordanians have been attempting to build the al-Wahda Dam on the upper Yarmouk River since 1955. Israel has been able to withhold cooperation because it controls 3% of the watershed. • In 1999 Jordan and Syria agreed to build the dam using the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development and the Islamic Development Bank. • A condition is 40% of the contract monies must go to Syrian and Jordanian subcontractors. As a consequence, the project has stalled.• Block diagram of Israel, West Bank and Jordan showing the coastal plain, central mountain range, Dead Sea transform, and the Transjordan Plateau.GEOLOGIC CROSS SECTION• Cross section through Israel, the Palestinian Autonomous Authority (West Bank) and Jordan, along the tectonic boundary between the Sinai and Arabian Plates on the Syrian-African Rift. This is the deepest graben on the Earth.• Section through the Mountain Aquifer in central Israel. This aquifer has been steadily depleted since 1949. The Israelis have not been able to recharge this area as easily as the units underlying the Mediterranean Coast.ISRAEL’SMOUNTAINAQUIFERS• These aquifers are formed in fractured limestonesalong a major anticlinalaxis parallel to the Dead Sea Transform• Groundwater flows away from the axis of the anticline (red arrows)• Management boundaries for the mountain aquifers area shown at leftSQUEEZING OUT SQUEEZING OUT EVERY LAST EVERY LAST DROP; AND THE DROP; AND THE CONSEQUENCES CONSEQUENCES THEREOFTHEREOFISRAEL’SCOASTALAQUIFERPlot at leftshows gwtabove sea level in 1959Plot at rightshows levelsdroppedmarkedly by1973 due tooverdraftingMANAGING ISRAEL’SCOASTAL AQUIFER• The coastal aquifer has been depleted, allowing saltwater intrusion along the coast.• The coastal aquifer has also been polluted by pesticides in the Gaza Strip• The Israelis are now using brackish water to recharge the southern limits of this aquifer• The boundary between fresh and brackish groundwater along shorelines is determined by the balance between recharge and discharge. Saltwater is more dense than freshwater.SALTWATERINTRUSION• When freshwater is overdraftedin coastal areas, brackish water will intrude upward, as shown hereTHE CHALLENGES THE CHALLENGES OF AN OF AN EXPANDING EXPANDING POPULATION POPULATION BASEBASEWORLD POPULATION TRENDS• The world's population reached 6 billion in 1999. • Global population growth stands at approximately 81 million/ year, compared to 53 million/year in the 1960s. • It is estimated that over the next 30 years, 98 per cent of the world's population growth will take place in developing countries.• In developing countries, the population doubles every 30 years, and young people will still account for as much as 40 per cent of the total population in 2025. • By the same token, about 77 per cent of the increase in older populations is taking place in developing regions. In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of people 65 and older will grow from 22.7 million to 61.2 million by the year 2025, according toa U.N. population study.ISRAELI POPULATION TRENDS• About 6.1 million people (2003 estimate)• Annual growth rate about 1.5%• At present, there are 5 million Jews and 4.5 million Arabs and 500,000 non-Jewish immigrants, mainly from the former Soviet Union.• Israeli experts forecast that by 2020 Israel will swell to about 6.4 million Jews, assuming