It is impossible to comprehend the scale of the water distress in West Bank without the appreciation of historical nuance and the territorial evolution of region known as Palestine. Following the Second World War, Palestine would emerge from the British protectorate, and the territory would be subsequently opened to the influx of Jewish settlers. Following the partition plan of 1947 state of Israel was established with a demarcated area which would unavoidably encroach on the Palestinian territory. But the borders would soon be rechallenged during the 1949-1967 series of Israeli-Arab conflicts. The state of Israel would emerge victorious pushing Palestine to the area it occupies today in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The land conquest would continue, however, as Israel proceeded with establishing illegal settlements in the West Bank territory putting significant strain on the already scant resource base. Water lies at the intersection of natural resources and the elusive prospects for peace in the Middle East.
What struck me in studying West Bank water issues is how the very same existential threats to Israel are also what stands in the way of a peaceful way forward for coexistence with its immediate neighbors Palestinians. If Israel were to revert the status quo and relinquish control over Golan Heights, it would lose access to its freshwater resource posing a fundamental danger to its existence. Conflict over the critical resources of water and air will inevitably perpetuate the already stark class disparities between Israel and Palestine. And while there is potential for a more significant degree of sharing between Israelis and Palestinians for example when it comes to harnessing solar power for the production of distilled water, the economic gap at the outset is tough to overcome. For any lasting solution, stakeholders on both the Arab and Israeli side would have to ensure their unwavering commitment to the sustainable development of the resource base. Given the high concentration of population on the Gaza Strip or the overcrowding of the West Bank territories the long-term solutions often take a back seat to more pressing matters of survival.
The Johan Galtung’s “Natural Resources, Palestine-Israel and Regional Peace” article grapples with this dilemma and puts forward one of the most reasonable solutions such as land sharing agreements which could ultimately empower more functional coexistence. However, it’s the decades of conflict and legacy of the political contest which have left a highly dysfunctional relationship in its wake. Based on what I have read and we have discussed in class there is a new source of hope in the region, and that’s the technology which might help shore off some of the natural resource woes. Galtung makes an important observation that if the occupation would be reversed the Israelis would lose control over its natural water supply causing the existing status quo critical. At the same time, the dire straits should motivate the regional powers to diversify away from the carbon-based energy and embrace the abundant renewable resource of the sun to power its water infrastructure. This argument, however, falls on deaf ears for as long as the oil is plentiful and cheap. There could be some hope with the land sharing agreements for the agricultural purposes where joint Arab-Israeli development could each share the access to the life-giving element. Above all, it will take an immense amount of technical, political and regulatory ingenuity to engineer a solution which can satisfy both sides and pave the way for sustainable peace in the region.
What makes the situation even more complicated is the fact that Jordan River is insufficient water resource to meet the demands of both Arabs and Israeli in the region. River Jordan and Israeli desalination plants are currently off-limits to the Palestinians. The West Bank is reliant on its access to 18% of the Coastal aquifer and 17% of the Mountain aquifer as established in the Oslo Accords. The West Bank Mountain aquifer is the biggest of the two with 400 mcm proven reserve and despite West Bank occupying almost 45% of the landmass, it receives only a third of the available water. Nearly 95% of the water Palestinians draw from the Western Mountain aquifer goes towards domestic agriculture. The construction of the controversial Separation Wall would put much of the Western Aquifer on the Israeli side further limiting Palestine’s access. With Israel drawing 83% of total water resource available over 80% of it is dedicated to domestic agriculture. Redrawing of the water lines puts additional pressure on the existing reserves as Palestinians deprived of their fair share of the aquifer resort to drilling illegal wells only depleting already stressed aquifer. Over 300 unauthorized wells are regularly shut down by Israel with further 35,000 of connecting pipes destroyed and 200 cisterns isolated from the rightful owners.
There are further unintended consequences of the 700km wall with 80% of it built on the Palestinian territory illegally now blocking the critical drainage channels. With the majority of the Mountain Aquifer restored by the rains over West Bank, the incidents of flooding in the near vicinity of the wall are ordinary. Furthermore, almost 45% of the West Bank has been designated as military zones, state lands or natural reserves excluding the area from cultivation and but also proper irrigation management. The Israeli settlement activity has gained momentum and expansion more than doubled since 2013. What’s perhaps most troubling is the preferential treatment in water allocation towards the Israeli settlers over the indigenous Palestinian population, were on average settlers received double of the Palestinian water allocation (150 liters vs. 73 liters). The debilitating effect of the prolonged water shortage in the West Bank is hard to dispute.
The hydropolitics of the region only further emphasize the economic discrepancies between Israel and Palestine. With GDP of Israel almost fifty-fold that of Palestine any prospect of solving the water crisis with additional investment is moot. There is a need to seek more affordable alternatives, and one of the more obvious candidates is wastewater. Today more than 90% of sewage goes untreated in the West Bank with only one existing plant in operation. Equivalent to 25% of the Mountain aquifer (91 mcm) is discharged into West bank with 38% of that flow originating in Israel. The infrastructure base is extremely underinvested with only 1 out of 5 families connected to the sewage system, and 69% of the septic tanks installed being out of date. What exacerbates the situation even further according to the World Bank is the Israeli state systematically retarding Palestine’s capacity to treat wastewater. When Germany offered to build a fully funded treatment facility, Israeli authorities blocked the proposal. How could we address the Palestinian water crisis while navigating the veritable minefield of state security issues?
I would propose revisiting the Israeli Palestinian Joint Water Committee charter which has been in operations since 1995 and updates the necessary quotas for the sustenance of the West Bank. The 73 liters per capita is well below the WHO recommended minimum standard so the Israeli argument that they have complied with their quotas cannot stand. Rather than require Israel pump back to West Bank the water from Mountain aquifer, it would make more sense to limit Israeli consumption of the Palestinian groundwater. Increasing the new artesian well limits to 140 meters and issuing new well permits should help in alleviating the immediate pressure. There have been only 14 official new well permits issued by Israel since 1967 which is a far cry from the required amount to sustain the growing population. Developing domestic water treatment capability should be a priority for the Palestinian authorities given the comparatively lower cost to more capital-intensive alternatives of desalination for example.
Examining potential alternatives for the West Bank one cannot ignore the market solutions which could help and shift the water allocation from agriculture to more residential uses. The excessive subsidies currently spent by Palestinian authorities on importing water from Israel could be redirected to move farmers towards other forms of employment. With Palestine generating 24% of its GDP from agriculture it might seem like a tall order but executed over time could provide substantial relief to the local water system. The government of Palestine stands in front of a rather simple dilemma – continue importing expensive water to support its agriculture sector or start importing cheap and abundant food from the region. This coupled with developing a robust water treatment network independent of Israel could help secure sustenance for the future generations.
West Bank authorities can further build on the already existing culture of standard water saving practices developed over millennia. Both Israel and Palestine already leverage the accumulated experience in water shortage management. Extending this further to pro-active aquifer management allowing for the natural replenishment and curbing the illegal depletion could add the 27-liter deficit per capita to meet the minimum WHO standard. What lies at the core of the West Bank water management challenge is the precise definition of water rights. With both sides proactively monitoring its water usage and tapping into the local technology cluster of water management expertise the resource base for future generation could be secured. Without recognizing the unique two-state narrative, West Bank will never reach a sustainable water system which could be the critical building block for bringing peace into the region mired by a permanent state of strife for survival.
Additional Readings:
Johan Galtung, “Natural Resources, Palestine-Israel and Regional PeacePreview the document,” Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture 2014, Vol. 19/20 Issue 4/1, 23-26.
Ariel Rejwan and Yossi Yaacoby, “Israel: Innovations overcoming water scarcityPreview the document,” OECD Business Brief, April 1, 2015
Ruth Schuster, “The secret of Israel’s water miracle and how it can help a thirsty worldPreview the document,” Haaretz, July 4, 2017
Charles D. Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Brief History with Documents