The Jordan and Litani rivers in the Middle East. (c1996)

Abstract

The shortage of water in the Middle East is currently not acute, but it is expected to be more acute in the following twenty years, as water resources are limited, compared to the projected number of population. Consequently, if solutions to the water problems are not reached at this time, conflicts over water are likely to increase tension and create wars in the future. In the past, all plans which have been submitted to the disputing parties from different sources have failed because the riparian states were at war with one another, and henceforth a benefit to one was invariably regarded as a loss to the other. Then, Arab states and Israel started to implement their own water projects in an attempt to protect their rights in using their water resources. These attempts made the situation worse, and among other repercussions, caused the outbreak of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. As a result, Israel annexed more lands and increased its water supply by forty percent. However, the indications from the on-going peace negotiations between the Arabs and the Israelis show potentials for the settlement of the water conflict as it is evident in the case of Jordan and Israel. Despite its small size compared to other international rivers, the Jordan River and its tributaries were subject to conflict between Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, and the Palestinians. The Jordan water constituted an important source to the livelihood of the Palestinian and the Israeli farmers. While the Israelis considered agriculture and water as an integral part of the economic ideology in Zionist thought to attach and incite the jews to return to their homeland, the Palestinians felt that they were being denied on purpose the lands to which they were tied. In fact, the Zionist policy to bring Jewish immigrants from Europe, Asia, Africa, and America to Israel was largely successful. Water is not important to the Israelis and the Palestinians only, but also to the Syrians, the Jordanians, and the Lebanese. The 1967 war had dramatic effects on Jordan. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees settled in the East Jordan Valley causing a sharp increase in demand for water in Jordan. While some specialists in water issues believe that Lebanon has surplus water that should be distributed to other countries, others contradicted these beliefs and reported that Lebanon is really in need of its water to produce electricity and to increase the irrigated land in the South and the Beqaa. Syria depended heavily on the waters of the Euphrates River. But, as a result of its conflict with Turkey, Syria had to depend more on the waters of the Jordan River as the water situation in the country was becoming more critical. Israel has been accused on many occasions of stealing the waters of the Litany River through canals, pipes, and by trucks. Such accusations, however, were not verified at all times. Other charges were leveled at Israel, accusing it of tying its withdrawal from the Golan Heights, West Bank, Gaza Strip, and South Lebanon with water concessions from concerned Arab states. Questions regarding the legality of diverting water outside the basins of the Jordan River were debatable from an international law point of view. In contrast to the Jordan River, the Litani River was recognized as a national and domestic river. Still, Israeli water experts reported that the basin of the Litani River is connected underground to that of the Hasbani River which is one of the tributaries of the Jordan River. Thus, the Litani River, according to the Israelis, should form part of the Jordan River. There are indications that the disputing parties may move towards an overall solution to the Middle East water problem. With the achievement of peace, it is expected that the riparian states would increase water resources by resorting to modem scientific methods such as desalination, collection and re-use of wastewaters, brackish water for irrigation, damming of seasonal streams, and importation of water from humid regions. However, when all is said and done about the improvement, distribution, and the utilization of water resources, the fact remains that the Middle East is a semi-arid region, and that ultimately, if the problems of water resources are to be resolved, the explosion of the population has to be controlled. Such control would mean a lower birth rate among the Arabs and a limitation to immigration to Israel.