Jordan Complains of Syrian Water Mismanagement

The Media Line- April 27, 2009
For the second time in less than a month, Jordanian officials will complain to Syria over the usage of the water from the Yarmouk River, which, according to Jordanian officials quoted by the Jordan Times, constitutes a violation of signed agreements.

The Jordanians are upset that Syria is allowing water from the river to be used in farming on the Syrian side, which has decreased the amount of water available for cultivation of crops in Jordan, and the amount of water that is stored in vital dams, the paper reported.

Under the agreement signed between the two countries, Syria’s share of water from the Wahda Dam, which is built on the river, is 21 billion cubic feet (bcf) for agricultural purposes, provided that the dam operates at full capacity of 3,850 billion bcf.

For the first time since the dam was completed two years ago, it holds only one fifth of its total capacity and thus the Syrian share would be lowered to 3.5 billion bcf. But according to the Jordanians, Syria is now pumping more that its allocated share of water.

The Yarmouk River is an offshoot of the Jordan River, originating in the Golan Heights and forming a boundary between Syria and Jordan for some 24 miles before becoming the border between Jordan and Israel.

Jordan is one of the 10 most water-deficient countries in the world, and 92 percent of the country is desert. It is estimated that some 65% of the country’s water resources are used for agriculture, which only contributes 3% of the country’s gross domestic production.

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Source:  The Media Line

Bahrain: Water crisis ‘a security threat’

BAHRAIN and its neighbours could face a potential security crisis unless they take steps to protect their diminishing water resources, a government official warned yesterday.

There could be serious threat if the region does nothing to ensure there is enough water to go round, said Works Minister Fahmi Al Jowder, who is also in charge of the Electricity and Water Authority.

His warning echoed an alert raised last week by Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry Under-Secretary Dr Ahmed Mohammed Al Salem, who said a water shortage could spark war in the region.

The struggle for limited resources amid growing demand and rising population levels is likely to end in conflict, Mr Al Salem told the Bahrain Security Forum, at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel and Spa.

“Thirty per cent (of the population) in the year 2025 will not find water for drinking or agriculture,” he said.

“What further complicates the situation is that 60pc of the Arab water resources come from outside our homelands.

“This no doubt is a sign of a potential war that could take place in this region as a result of the struggle and strife for its resources.”

Mr Al Jowder was speaking at the opening of the Innovative Water and Wastewater Reuse Technolog-ies conference.

Failure to act could have disastrous consequences for the region’s security, he said.

“We have to work on several fronts to try and manage the demand,” said Mr Al Jowder.

“Management of demand is an issue and we should work on (reducing) leaks from our network.”

Experts from around the world are attending the two-day event, being held at the Gulf Hotel’s Gulf Convention Centre.

It is being organised by the Saudi Arabia Water Environment Association (SAWEA), US-based Water Environment Federation and US-based International Desalination Association.

An exhibition on the sidelines of the event is also showcasing the latest innovations and technologies in water production and conservation systems.

The conference continues today with a series of technical sessions about desalination and sanitary wastewater treatment.

Mr Al Jowder called for campaigns to educate the public on how to avoid wasting water.

“We have to work on awareness programmes,” he said.

“We are not doing enough to educate the young generation, consumers and investors.”

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Source: Gulf Daily News

Jordanians, Israelis and Palestinians Collaborate to Save the Jordan River

Sep 18th, 2008 by Ilana Teitelbaum

There are few environmental topics in the Middle East more controversial than the proposed Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal to revive the Dead Sea, which has the potential to cause lasting damage to the composition of the sea’s ecosystem.

The multinational organization Friends of the Earth Middle East (FEME), who are working to build a peace park to restore the Jordan River, have an effective rejoinder to counter the Canal proposal.

With the use of water conservation and rainwater harvesting on the part of communities in Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan, FEME seeks to restore the Jordan River–and thereby restore the main water source of the Dead Sea.

According to Gidon Bromberg, Israel’s Director of FEME, restoring the Jordan River may be the first step to achieving Middle East peace.

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Source: Green Prohet

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Palestine: Israeli water policies leave West Bank dry

Per capita water consumption in Palestine is far below the minimum recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The chronic water shortage in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, resulting from an unfair distribution of water resources shared by the Palestinians and Israel, will be much graver this summer because of this year’s drought.

In the northern West Bank, water consumption has fallen to one-third of the minimal amount needed.

The 2008 drought, the most serious in the area in the past decade, aggravates the built-in, constant shortage of water in the West Bank. Rainfall this year in the northern West Bank was 64% of the average, while in the southern sections, it was 55%.

As a result, the water stored from rainfall has already been used. The Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) estimates this year’s water shortage in the West Bank at 42 to 69 million cubic metres. The total water consumption in the West Bank is 79 mcm.

The PWA has already requested Mekorot — the Israel Water Company — for an emergency supply of eight mcm.

According to the WHO, the per capita minimal amount of water needed for household and urban needs is 100 litres a day. Due to the chronic water shortage, water consumption in the northern West Bank has dropped to one-third this amount.

In Tubas, per capita consumption is 30 litres; in Jenin, it is 38 litres. In Nablus and the Southern Hebron Hills, the figure is slightly higher than 50 litres a day.

Average per capita consumption throughout the West Bank is 66 litres, two-thirds of the minimal amount needed according to the WHO. These figures include water for livestock, meaning that the water consumed for personal use is even less.

In comparison, average daily water consumption in Israeli cities is 235 litres, and 214 litres in local councils, 3.5 times higher than Palestinian consumption in the West Bank.

A total of 227,500 Palestinians in 220 towns and villages in the West Bank are not connected to a water network at all, 75% of them in the northern West Bank. Another 190,000 Palestinians live in villages that are only partially connected to a water network.

Some 20% of Palestinians in the West Bank are not connected to a water network.

Even in Palestinian towns and villages that have a water network, water supply is not regular most of the year. Water is supplied only some hours of the day, and sometimes on a rotational basis. In distant areas, water supply may be disconnected for days or weeks.

Residents of communities with water networks hooked up to Mekorot report that the company discriminates against them, reducing water supply to Palestinian residents to enable it to meet the increased demand in the Israeli settlements.

Lacking regular water supply, many Palestinians have to buy water on the private market. Last year, the price for a cubic metre of water ranged from 15-30 shekels, three to six times higher than Israeli households pay.

It is expected that prices will be even higher this year. The high rate of unemployment and poverty in the West Bank has made water purchases an economic burden for a substantial portion of the population.

Israel holds complete control of the water sources shared by Israel and the Palestinians, primarily the Mountain Aquifer, and prohibits by army order any Palestinian drilling of wells without a permit. At the same time, Israel draws from the West Bank some 44 mcm — five million more than it supplies to the Palestinian Authority.

Israel allocates to Palestinians only 20% of the water from the Mountain Aquifer, and prevents the PWA from developing additional sources to enable greater water supply for Palestinians in the West Bank.

As the occupying power, Israel is required under international law to ensure public order and safety in the occupied territory, without discrimination. In addition, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which Israel ratified, ensures access to clean drinking water without discrimination.

International human rights law also ensures the Palestinians’ right to utilise and enjoy freely their natural resources.

B’Tselem calls on the government of Israel to ensure, immediately and without discrimination, adequate, regular water supply to all residents of the West Bank. B’Tselem also urges the government to allow the Palestinian Authority to develop new water sources.

Source: Green Left Online

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Tension Grows as Pakistan claims India closed water flow in Chenab river

Islamabad, Sep 15 (PTI) Pakistani authorities have said that India has closed water flow in the Chenab river which it claimed was making a water shortage in the country more severe.
The alleged “water blockade” by India could adversely affect kharif crops, particularly cotton and sugarcane which are in maturity stage and require final watering, and the sowing of rabi crops early next month, sources told the Dawn newspaper.

They said Pakistan’s Indus Water Commission had taken up the matter with the federal government. It has also convened a meeting tomorrow to take stock of the situation and to try to reach a diplomatic solution with India.

If the issue is prolonged, the sowing of rabi crops, particularly wheat, would be hit severely, the sources said.

Pakistan had to import over two million tonnes of wheat this year despite a record production of more than 23 million tonnes.

The water shortage could force Pakistan to import more wheat next year, adding to foreign exchange pressure and worsening its balance of payments crisis.

The Indus River System Authority has convened a meeting of its technical committee on September 20 to ascertain the overall water availability for the rabi season that begins on October 1. PTI

Source: Press Trust of India

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Canada to help Israel conserve water

The North American land of many lakes and seemingly unending cascades of waterfalls has decided to help drought-stricken Israel try and conserve water.

A delegation of Israeli water experts led by Jewish National Fund head Efi Stenzler and Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon brought back a cooperation agreement with the Canadian province of Manitoba late last week. Manitoba, with over 100,000 lakes, stands among the best at water conservation in the world.

After hearing from the 11-man Israeli delegation at an international conference on water and conservation which they hosted, Manitoba Water Stewardship Minister Christine Melnick announced that she would be sending the province’s experts to teach Israel about conservation. In return, Israeli experts would teach their Manitoban counterparts how to purify polluted water.

The delegation also snagged a boon for Israel’s universities. Melnick budgeted $250,000 a year in scholarships to bring Manitoban students to Israel to study water engineering and water purification. An international youth movement will be set up to champion water conservation as well.

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Source: The Jerusalem Post

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Current Gov’t Policies Don’t Solve Yemen’s Looming Water Crisis

Yemen faces huge dangers pertaining to water security and its government policies aren’t responding to this danger, according to participants at a seminar organized last Wednesday by the Saba Center for Strategic Studies on “Water security in Yemen: challenges and treatment.”

The participants maintained that practical solutions should be implemented in order to solve the current and future water crisis. They suggested that redrawing the historical agricultural map where Yemeni farmers have worked and adapted to water resources in the past will help determine solutions for how to utilize both surface and underground water.

Sana’a University economics professor Nasser Al-Awlaqi believes Yemen’s water crisis results from government policies followed since the 1970s focusing on expanding agricultural areas that depend on limited water resources. As a result, the water reserve was drained.

However, Al-Awlaqi pointed out that the situation can be controlled if both water supply and demand are managed “by decreasing water consumption and agriculture in Sana’a basin through coordination between the government and farmers.” He added, “We should realize that the water situation in Yemen is dangerous, as there is an approximate 1 billion cubic meter shortfall between supply and demand.”

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Source: Yemen Times

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