Water and Diplomacy in the Jordan River Basin
Publisher: Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs III: 2
Author(s): Eliahu Rosenthal and Robbie Sabel
Date: 2009
Topics: Cooperation, Renewable Resources
Countries: Israel, Jordan, Palestine
In the Middle East region, only Lebanon and Turkey do not suffer from grave shortages of water. The irregular, unequal, often violent yearly regime of rains is the main reason for water shortage and uncertainty of regular water supply. In recent decades, the available water resources have undergone quality deterioration, mainly due to natural (geogenic) and man-triggered (anthropogenic) processes of salinization and pollution.
The Jordan River basin extends over Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. This is a typical transboundary basin in which no country may dispose independently of its waters and all are at the mercy of the other riparians. West of the Jordan River (Cis-Jordan—Israel and Palestine) certain groundwater resources are also transboundary and have to be shared by Israel and the Palestinians.