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The populations and consumption levels of countries throughout the Middle East are steadily increasing and, correspondingly, their water demands. Water resources available to most of these countries remain more or less the same, if not being reduced by abusive utilization or pollution. Many now speculate that the region's next war will be fought over water Today's international legislative structure is incapable of solving complex water disputes such as that of the Middle East. However principles of international legitimacy provide the basis for solutions. This paper presents a pragmatic, practical, and dispassionate formula compatible with the principles of international law and legitimacy for dealing with international water resources allocation problems. The presented formula is built around resolving the Middle East's water conflict according to natural apportionment of resources and the open market approach.

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The most important source of increased crop yield in the Middle East has probably been the increase in irrigated area although it has been accompanied by other inputs such as chemical fertilizers, improved varieties, mechanization, and pesticides. Palestine, which in this paper encompasses West Bank and Gaza, has had a similar emphasis on irrigation although only 5% of West Bank agricultural land is irrigated. However, the possibility of further expanding or even maintaining present water use for fostering agricultural growth in this dry region is diminishing. There now is a growing understanding that future sustainable agriculture in the Middle East may depend on shifting emphasis to rainfed farming; in the past, this was not considered possible because of its perceived low productive potential Recent research, however, has evaluated the status of rainfed farming in Palestine and targeted areas that need improvement. Experiments and demonstrations have shown the potential to vastly improve rainfed farming's production, economic return and status. Following up on these initial steps should be an important priority in maintaining food production in this region.

This paper examines the effects of irrigation practices and related activities on the environment and human health in the West Bank. Irrigated agriculture in the West Bank covers an area of * 9,473 ha and utilizes 93 million cubic meters of irrigation water annually. The current annual use of fertilizers in the irrigated areas is 18,980 tons of chemical fertilizers and 198,900 to 265,200 tons of organic fertilizers. The total annual use of pesticides (excluding methyl bromide) in irrigated agriculture is 153 tons, of which 27 tons are internationally banned products. Methyl bromide is a dominant soil fumigant in the West Bank with a total estimated annual use of 400 tons, 44% of which is used on vegetables planted in plastic houses and high plastic tunnels. The soil solarization method to control soil-borne diseases is used by only 0.5% of the surveyed farmers.This study indicates that some farmers have suffered health problems due to exposure to pesticides, from the lack of protective clothing. Of the surveyed farmers, 19% suffer from poisoning symptoms and 1% are affected by methyl bromide fumigants. The total quantity of plastic sheets was estimated at 4,750 tons, at least 50% of which becomes waste. Eighty-eight percent of the surveyed farmers collect and burn the plastic wastes on the field, which could harm both the environment and human health through toxic fumes. Some water-related diseases occurred in the study area. Seventy-nine people were affected by leishmaniasis and 14 others by dysentery. Despite the heavy use of fertilizers, water quality analysis did not show high concentrations of nitrate.