Nature's Apportionment and the Open Market: A Promising Solution to the Arab-Israeli Water Conflict

Abstract

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.

Eco-political Decision Making and Techno-political Alternative Strategies in the Inter-state Development of the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea Beyond the Peace

“…Israel' s heavy dependen ce on the fresh renew able water reso urces in the occupied G olan H eights also amounts to 305 M C M per year, which accounts for 90% of the total potential yield of 330 M C M (Zarour & Issac, 1993). This situation is acute in dry years.…”

“…Thus, Israeli depen denc e on the water sources in occupied Palestine , including the G olan Heig hts and the W est Bank, amounts to 735 M CM (Zarour & Issac, 1993) w hich accounts for 52% of the total water consum ption of 1.42 BC M in 1991. This w ould be less critical if Israel w as not already over-exploiting its renew able water potential.…”

“…G round water is the m ain source of water supply in the W est Bank, of w hich the potential is estim ated to be 600 M CM per year (Benv enist & Khayat, 1988). Israel w ithdraw s 430 M C M of fresh grou ndw ater, w hich accounts for 73.5% of the total pum ping of 585 M CM in the W est Bank, whilst the G aza strip consumes only 105 M CM , of w hich the source of ground water has been serio usly contam inated by seawater intru sion ow ing to heavy pum ping exceed ing the sustainable yield (Zarour & Issac, 1993).…”

ADAPTING THE LAW OF WATER MANAGEMENT TO GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND OTHER HYDROPOLITICAL STRESSES1

“…They advocate privatization for national or local environment management processes (Anderson and Leal, 1991;Anderson and Snyder, 1997;Colby, 1988;Crammond, 1996;Dinar and Letey, 1991;Dragun and Gleeson, 1989;Frederiksen et al, 1993;Gibbons, 1986;Gray, 1996;Huffaker et al, 1993;Kaiser, 1996;Landry, 1998;Michelsen, 1994;Saliba and Bush, 1987;Teerink and Nakashima, 1993). These and other champions also advocate privatization for problems of international water management (Becker and Zeitouni, 1998;Shuval, 1992;Smith, 1988;World Bank, 1994;Zarour and Isaac, 1993). Admittedly, many economists acknowledge that the inherently public nature of water precludes true markets, but they still end up advocating "transferable allocation permits" as the best method for allocating water to particular uses; such economists seem unable, however, to explain how such tradable permits would differ from markets.…”

The Palestinian water crisis

“…Some areas of the West Bank district of Bethlehem were without piped water between May and October 1994. Gleick, 1993;Isaac et al, 1994a;Zarour and Isaac, 1991;Zarour and Isaac, 1993. Comparable shortfalls in domestic supply in Israel are unknown.…”