R. Klingbeil, 2010: Wasser - eine strategische Ressource im Nahen und Mittleren Osten [Water - A Strategic Resource in the Middle East]

Water -
A Strategic Resource in the Middle East

Wildbad Kreuth, Germany Ralf Klingbeil
25 July 2010 Regional Advisor
Environment & Water

Quotes
• “The next war in the Middle East will be over water.”
attributed to Boutros Boutros Ghali, former SG UN, 1993
• “The policy makers should become much more aware of the
central role of water in achieving regional peace. Right now
the question is, will it be cooperation or riparian suicide?”
Joschka Wessels, From the Source, 11 May 2010
• “Arabs are already in the heart of the water catastrophe.”
Najib Saad, SG AFED, 12 June 2010
• “Any delay in a serious response to the water challenge
corresponds to mass suicide. The water apocalypse is
knocking on Arab doors, right now.”
Najib Saad, SG AFED, 12 June 2010
1 February 2012 www.escwa.un.org 2

Outline


Outline
• UN-ESCWA – regional economic commission
• Regional Water Overview
The Many Dimensions of Water
– Water Availability and Demand
– Solutions to a Dilemma?
– Water and Food, Virtual Water, Food Imports
– Transboundary Water and Transboundary Aquifers
• What remains to be said
Hope?


UN ESCWA
• 14 Member
Countries


Regional Water Overview

Water Availability and Demand


Freshwater Worldwide


Actual Renewable Freshwater Resources
per Capita. by Region

FAO AQUASTST, WB 2007

Percent of Total Renewable Water
Resources Withdrawn, by Region

FAO AQUASTAT data 1998-2002, WB 2007

Rainfall Distribution in the Arab Region

ESCWA,, 2009

Total Renewable Water per Person
in ESCWA Region

Water Stress

Water Scarcity

Extreme Water Scarcity

ESCWA, 2009

Total Actual Renewable Water
Resources per Capita in MENA

Water Stress

Water Scarcity

Extreme Water Scarcity

FAO AQUASTAT, WB 2007

High Rate of Population Growth

ICBA, Barghouti, 2009

High Rate of Population Growth
in ESCWA Region

ESCWA, 2009

Renewable - Non-Renewable Groundwater

Renewable groundwater resources
Non-renewable groundwater
Less extensive aquifers

ESCWA, 2009

Wadi Al-Sirhan, Saudi Arabia


Sustainability and
Non-Renewable Groundwater
• Immediate gains vs. long term benefits
• No clear “Exit Strategy”, e.g., replacement water
resource
we are here, but
where are we
going next?

after
Al Zubari, 2010

Sources of Water and Use


Water – Key Development Issues

Facilitating Food Crisis
Economic Growth

Governance & Finance
Water Resources Management
Livable
Water Supply Climate
Cities
Growth

and Change
Human Development

Water Conflicts

Decentralization
Sanitation
Peak Water
Water Security
Local human services
Urbanization Irrigation Energy and
and Rural Development Hydropower
Poverty Impact Challenges

Water, Climate and Environment
Transboundary Water Financial
Crisis WB, Saghir, 2010


Solutions to a Dilemma?


Solutions? – Water Imports and Transfers

• Read Sea - Dead Sea Canal

WB, Lintner, 2009


• Dead Sea: Water Level Changes

WB, Lintner, 2009


• Dead Sea: Sink Holes, Water Level Drop



• Red - Dead Sea Canal: The Concept



• Read Sea - Dead Sea Canal

WB, Lintner, 2009

Solutions? - Desalination

ESCWA, 2009


Water and Food, Virtual Water,
Food Imports


Declining Shares of Agriculture in GDP


Wadi Al-Sirhan, Saudi Arabia


Irrigated Agriculture in Saudi Arabia

FAO AQUASTAT, 2008

Perverse Incentives for Excess Irrigation

WB, 2007


Transboundary Water and
Transboundary Aquifers


What is a Transboundary Aquifer ?

UNESCO / ISARM,
2001


TB Water & Aquifers in Middle East


TB Water – International Law
• 1966 Helsinki Rules
• 1992 UN ECE Water Convention, and
2003 Amendment
• 1997 UN Non-navigational Use Convention
(UN Watercourse Convention)
• 2000 EU Water Framework Directive “WFD”
(2000/60/EC),
2006 Groundwater Directive (2006/118/EC)
• 2008 UNGA Resolution on the Law of TBAs
(“UNTBA”), inc. UN ILC comments 08/05/08


TB Water Cooperation – Principles
1. Equitable and Reasonable Utilisation
2. Obligation not to Cause Significant Harm
3. General Obligation to Cooperate
 Regular Exchange of Data and Information
 Bilateral and Regional Agreements & Arrangements
4. Environmental Protection
 Protection and Preservation of Ecosystems
 Prevention, Reduction and Control of Pollution
5. Monitoring and Management

Limited Sovereignty of Riparian / Aquifer States


Israel, Jordan and Palestine


Jordan River Basin

FAO. 2009

Jordan River - Dead Sea Basin
• Israel, Jordan, Lebanon,
Palestine, Syrian Arab Republic
(mainly)

1 February 2012 www.escwa.un.org
modified after UN Dept. of Field Support 39

Jordan River Basin
• Cooperation over Y
existing water LEBANON

resources is not SYRIA
Y
effective / existent
JORDAN
Domination of control
N
1994 negotiations with Jordan RIVER
1995, 2000, 2008 negotiations
BASIN
Y
with Palestinians
Red – Dead Canal Y JORDAN
Occupied
No Long-term Water Security West
Bank
Lebanon perspective
Syria perspective
Signatories to IWL: 4 / 5
Zeitoun 2010

Upper Jordan River Basin - Springs

Hasbani (125 Mio m³/a)

Libanon
Dan (250 Mio m³/a)

Banias (125 Mio m³/a)

Israel Golan
Jordan


• Hasbani Spring, Hasbani River


• Ouazzani Spring, Hasbani River



Klein. 1998

Lake Tiberias


Lake Tiberias discharge –
“Spring” of the Lower Jordan River

Zeitoun. 2010

The Mouth of the River Jordan -
at the Dead Sea

… in 2008:
1.20 m wide

Jordan River Basin

Moelle. 2000 ?

Jordan River Basin


Jordan Basin / Mediterranean: Groundwater

Basin Recharge Abstractions
Coastal Aq 476 544
WAB 409 377
W.Galilee 171 123
Carmel 60 48
EAB,NEAB 386 330
Negev,
Aravah 32 94
Tiberias 507 454

Σ 2041 1970
Messerschmid, 2009

Israel - Palestine: The Mountain Aquifers

• Geological Cross Section from West to East

FAO. 2009


Eastern Mountain Aquifer

• Ein Samia, well field • Spring Fazael, close to
for Ramallah water Jordan valley
supply


Israel-Palestine:
Western Aquifer 2/7

SUSMAQ, 2004

Israel-Palestine:
Western Aquifer 3/7
• Well yields

West Bank

Israel


Israel-Palestine:
Western Aquifer 3/7
• Communities:
per cap
water
availability

less than
30 l/cap/day

http://www.intertech-pal.com/monitoring/data/data1.php

Israel-Palestine:
Western Aquifer 3/7
• Communities:
Extent of
water
networks

Communities
without
networks

http://www.intertech-pal.com/monitoring/data/data1.php

Israel-Palestine:
Western Aquifer 4/7
Historical Use: Surface and Groundwater

Zeitoun, Messerschmid, Attili, 2009

Israel – Palestine:
Western Aquifer 5/7
Historical Use: Different Sectors, Parties


Israel-Palestine:
Western Aquifer 6/7
Historical Use: One Party’s GW Abstraction


Israel-Palestine:
Western Aquifer 7/7
Groundwater Development Costs

MacDonald et al., 2009

Desalination for West Bank?

Zeitoun 2010

Gaza as Part of TB Coastal Aquifer

Messerschmid 2009

Gaza as Part of TB Coastal Aquifer
• Chloride concentrations in public drinking water wells

Messerschmid 2009

Gaza: Sewage Lagoons

• Sewage catastrophe, • and new lagoons,
March 2007 October 2007


Khan Younis, Gaza:
Fetching Water instead of School


Gaza - End of Humanity?
• What is the World waiting for?
• Gaza cannot be self-supplied
with water
… just like Manhattan
• Desalination does not solve
the main problems of the
humanitarian and
environmental crisis
• Blockade is the greatest
environmental hazard
• Do we have to wait for
Cholera?
Messerschmid 2009

Israel-Palestine:
Summary of Allocations
source Palestine Israel
Jordan River 0 100
Wadi al Fara’ 5 95
Wadi Gaza 2 98
Eastern Aquif. 60 40
N.Eastern Aquif. 35 65
Western Aquif. 6 94
Coastal Aquif. 35 65
OVERALL 10% 90%

‘Inequitable and Unreasonable’
Hydro-Hegemony
Consented to by PLO, and Palestinian Authority
Zeitoun 2010

Basis for Negotiations
Annapolis 2008
• The Israeli Solution

Perpetuate the current
inequitable allocation and
Overall Water Allocation

provide funding for ‘new New
water’ to enhance Palestine’s
share

New
Israel

Israel
Zeitoun 2010

Annapolis 2008
• The Palestinian Solution (1)

I. Reallocate the existing
water resources, generating

equitable allocations, and
ending the water conflict
Israel

Israel
Zeitoun 2010

Annapolis 2008
• The Palestinian Solution (2)

II. Develop and allocate the
‘new water’ New

New
Israel

Israel
Zeitoun 2010

Perspectives
• No resolution of the water conflict without
reallocation of freshwater
• No viable Palestinian State without sufficient
water.
• Negotiated agreement must be based on
equitable reallocation of shared water resources.
• Equitable distribution with Palestinians without
harm to Israel is possible.
• Water can be used as a vehicle for peace, but is
a source of further conflict.
Zeitoun 2010

Perspectives
• Less realistic solutions:
– Import from outside (Turkey)?
– Desalination ?
– Cisterns ?
– Water Savings ?
• More realistic solutions:
– New (deep) boreholes
– Waste water recycling
– Utilisation of springs
– Supply from Israel to Palestine

Zeitoun 2010

Perspectives

Friends of the Earth Middle East


Further Reading

Zeitoun 2010

Israel - Palestine

water is everybody‘s business!

after Messerschmid, 2010

Lebanon


Lebanon
• Rainfall distribution

El-Fadel, 2009

Lebanon
• Groundwater Basins

El-Fadel, 2009

Lebanon
• Bala’a
Karst
Sink Hole,
Tanourine


Lebanon
• Major River Basins

El-Fadel, 2009

Lebanon
• Annual Water Balance

El-Fadel, 2009

Lebanon
• MEW 10 year plan:
Dams and Lakes

some dams not shown on map El-Fadel, 2009

Lebanon
• Inter-Basin Transfers
– Litani
– Awali
– Hasbani / Jordan
• Transboundary
implications

El-Fadel, 2009

UN ESCWA Cooperation with
German Development Cooperation
• Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Deveopment,
BMZ

• Federal Institute for Geosciences and
Natural Resources, BGR

• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische
Zusammenarbeit, GTZ


ESCWA – BGR Cooperation
Project objective:
• “to improve national and regional dialogue for the
integrated management and protection of (shared /
transboundary) water resources in the ESCWA member
countries”
• Only BMZ-funded regional TC project in the Middle East
addressing issues related to the management of shared
(transboundary) water resources.


Main activities:
1. Compilation of an inventory of shared water resources
in Western
2. Technical Assistance to Member Countries –
Monitoring of shared (transboundary) water resources
• Lebanon (Nahr El-Kebir - Border River)
• Syria (Euphrates River and tributaries in Northern Syria)
• Jordan (Disi Aquifer)
3. Support regional UN ESCWA activities to promote
dialogue on shared water resources
4. Promote, and provide tools for, the protection of
(drinking) water resources
Faysal, R. 2010

Inventory
Shared Surface Shared Groundwater
PART A THE ARABIAN PENINSULANA PART B MASHREK

Northern Zone
 Jordan Basin Western Mountain Aquifer basin
Saq-Ram system (KSA-JOR)
(PAL-ISR)
 Dead Sea Basin Sakaka-Rutba system (KSA-IRQ)
Coastal Aquifer Basin (PAL-ISR-EGY)
Umm er Radhuma-Dammam system – North
 Orontes Basin  Western Galilee Basin
Zone (KSA-IRQ-KUW)
(PAL-ISR-LEB)
 Nahr El Kebir Hammad system (KSA-JOR-IRQ-SYR)
Jabal Al Arab
 Euphrates Basin Southern Zone
Akkar-Hermel
 Tigris Basin Wajid system (KSA-YEM)
Mount Hermon
Mahra (Tawila)-Cretaceaous Sands system
 Shatt al Arab (KSA-YEM)
Anti-Lebanon

 Kweik Basin  Jezira Tertiary Limestone system
Umm er Radhuma-Dammam system – South
Zone (KSA-OMA-YEM) Jezira Lower Fars-Upper Fars system
Eastern Zone
Wasia-Biyadh (KSA-BAH-QAT)
Umm er Radhuma-Dammam system –
Central Zone (KSA-BAH-QAT)
AlHasa-AlDahira system (OMA-UAE)


ESCWA – GTZ Cooperation
Main focus:
• Promoting cooperation and exchange of expertise and
experience in the water supply and sanitation sector
– Establishment and Strengthening of the
Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA)
in 2008/2009, Secretariat in Amman/Jordan
– Support to the ACWUA Secretariat and Governing Bodies
(Board of Directors, General Assembly, development of
constitution)
– Advisory Services in the development of program and thematic
priorities, strategies and activities
– Support to ACWUA Working Groups
– Further Development of MDG Indicators (MDG+ process) in
cooperation with the Arab Ministers’ Council for Water (AMCW)
– Launching of Arab Water Week in December 2010


What remains to be said.
Hope?


Issues affecting the water sector
in the Middle East
• The region allocated significant investment in
developing water resources.
• The region supported advances in hydrological
engineering which allowed full utilization of
surface and ground water resources.
• The region gives more attention to engineering
than to water policy and demand management.
• The region urgently needs to strengthen water
institutions to manage water policies and water
management projects.


Main Messages
• Water is everybody’s business.
• Goal for many countries:
National water strategy for water security, enough water
for all demands
• None of the countries in the region is today able to
sustain their water needs only from within their national
boundaries.
• All countries are already net water importers through
food imports – virtual water.
• Largest water consumer is agriculture, although rarely
economically viable nor socially necessary.


Main Messages
• Urgent need to change water policies with regard water
consumption, treated waste water reuse.
• Many surface and groundwater resources are
transboundary, i.e. shared between neighbouring
counties.
• Effective und sustainable management of transboundary
water needs willingness to cooperate for a more
equitable sharing of the benefits from the common
resource.
• Without cooperation and regional and bilateral
agreements on water the region is likely to move towards
a mass suicide.


Ralf Klingbeil
Regional Advisor
Environment & Water

R. Klingbeil, 2010: Wasser - eine strategische Ressource im Nahen und Mittleren Osten [Water - A Strategic Resource in the Middle East]

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