Israel's Deadly Thirst

[Violet_Crumble]

A question for Gimel or anyone who knows something about the situation with water in Israel and the Occupied Territories. Because of the severe water shortages, are there water restrictions in place in Israel? From what I read in the article, it appears there's little to no restriction on the use of water by Israeli settlers in the Occupied Territories, but I didn't see whether there was any mention or not of water restrictions in Israel.


By Chris McGreal
The Guardian
13 January, 2004

Ask Ariel Sharon about the Six Day war and he will tell you that the fighting of that momentous week in 1967 really began more than two years earlier as Israel responded not to Syria's tanks but its bulldozers.


Damascus was constructing a vast canal to divert the waters of two of the Jordan River's main tributaries away from Israel in an attempt to squeeze dry an already parched land. For Israel, the threat to its precarious water supply was as great a challenge to the existence of the fledgling Jewish state as any Arab army. Artillery duels and the Israeli air force brought work to a halt.

<snip>

Israel relies on three key water sources: the Sea of Galilee and two natural underground aquifers - the "mountain aquifer" in the occupied West Bank and the "coastal aquifer" in Israel. One or two dry years has a profound effect on the aquifers, along with Israel pumping far more water than is provided by replenishment. The Sea of Galilee, which is pumped as far south as the Negev desert, fell to its lowest level in recorded history last summer and came perilously close to exposing the pumps. Winter rains have replenished it to a degree, but the water level still sits precariously close to the "red line" at which the national water authority says the sea's ecological stability will start to erode. However, not many take the red line seriously, given that the authority has lowered it several times over the years so that it is always kept below falling water levels. It is now 2.5m below its original designation.

The coastal aquifer has fallen so low at times that it is in danger of irreversible contamination by salt water drawn in from the Mediterranean sea. As the water table falls, sea water percolates through coastal soil into the fresh water, making it undrinkable and useless for irrigation.

http://www.countercurrents.org/pa-mcgreal130104.htm

[izzie]

1. Interesting I must say. We can guess who had a lot of water

They were writing about this years ago and the Arabs could see what was going on then. We must not be fools enough to let Capital own our water any place. We will pay and pay if that happens.Oil wars will me mild to these wars.

[La_Serpiente]

2. We take many things for granted here in the US

not many people have access to water, and I don't think many Americans are cognizant of that.

Lack of access to water and food are Weapons of Mass Destruction as well.

[Gimel]

3. Either dated or ...

This article does not seem to recognize current water planning. In the middle of a rainy season, (now in January, I doubt that this article is current, although given a current publication date - either that or intentionally avoids this). Last year also saw ample rains, so the water situation is not severe at the moment. There is not rationing now.

When there is drought, like in the two preceding years 2000 -2002 there is, of course rationing. There is always a limit on water for agricultural consumption, and excessive water use is penalized with excessive charge for domestic use as well.

It is misleading to say that the import of water from Turkey is in doubt. The deal is still on. A water desalinization plant is under construction. Clearly this is a problem that can be solved.

[Violet_Crumble]

4. Have you heard anything about this?

I can't post a link because I saw it on the news tonight. Have you heard anything about the prototype rain machine that's been developed at the Hebrew University? If it works the way the scientists that were interviewed said it should, the implications for arid countries are enormous. Well, maybe not so enormous if the arid areas aren't prone to having many cloudy days..

While importing water from Turkey is a solution, it's not a viable long-term one, and seeing I agree with the posters in the thread who pointed out water is such a valuable commodity that it's an issue countries will go to war over. That's why being self-reliant on water supplies is the best option as far as I'm concerned....

On water restrictions in Israel. Are they common over there? For the first time in my life there's restrictions in my little corner of the world, which means no washing my car, watering the garden, or using hoses, plus our water rates got doubled from January 1 to discourage people from using water. Despite the huge size difference in the two countries, the annual rainfall, largely urban population, and percentage of the country that's arid, are very similar...

Violet...

[Gimel]

5. Notice

You seem to have overlooked some important information from my previous post. Namely, that a water desalinization plant is under construction. You don't want to accept my information, and I will not google for you or anyone here again. That is available for you as well.

[Violet_Crumble]

6. My apologies...

None of the questions I asked required you to google anything, and the reason I asked was because I'm genuinelly interested in this sort of thing, considering how the shortage of water affects things here as well. If you believe that a civil discussion about water shortages is a take no prisoners type of thing where it all boils down to accepting yr information and a declaration of victory, sorry but yr on yr own. I won't make the same mistake again...

Violet...

[Gimel]

7. Then provide

some valid documentation instead of ignoring the information I gave you. You could easily find information about the water desalinization plant under construction in Aqaba. A person of your talents wouldn't be without words, I'm sure. Punch in Israel and water for starters.

[Violet_Crumble]

8. Huh?

Valid documentation for what?? I'm not sure why I'm supposed to be obsessing over a water desalinisation plant, anyway. Like, did you get the idea I think it's not being constructed, perhaps? I was more interested in the things I asked the questions about, which is why I asked the questions. If you want to argue with someone over everything, you've picked the wrong person...

Violet...

[Gimel]

9. Refresher

I wrote:

It is misleading to say that the import of water from Turkey is in doubt. The deal is still on. A water desalinization plant is under construction. Clearly this is a problem that can be solved.

When there is drought, like in the two preceding years 2000 -2002 there is, of course rationing. There is always a limit on water for agricultural consumption, and excessive water use is penalized with excessive charge for domestic use as well.


You responded:

I agree with the posters in the thread who pointed out water is such a valuable commodity that it's an issue countries will go to war over. That's why being self-reliant on water supplies is the best option as far as I'm concerned....

On water restrictions in Israel. Are they common over there?


I don't know about the news you saw last night, and no, I'm not acquainted with anyone working on a rain machine. (However seeding clouds has been tried drying drought years. However, it takes a certain amount of cloud formation for this to be successful.)


Also see this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=124&topic_id=44734

Additional comments:

I have read that there are in fact four water desalinization plants planned for Israel. In this age, going to war over such a basic commodity, which with the global population stretching all natural resources is not unusual, is a lose-lose proposition. There are also global weather changes which affect climate, and rainfall, possibly due to industrial pollution especially the hydro-floride components primarily caused by the so-called industrialized nations.

That puts the whole world in the same eco-system. Only a scientific approach can solve this, not by denying the Jewish people a homeland.