By Tristan Holaday

The Waters of Israel

OverviewBrief BackgroundClimate and ResourcesInequalityDemands and Conservation: Urban and

AgriculturalPollutionHope For the Future

Hello IsraelLocated: 31°30′N 34°45′E

Land Size: 7,992 sq. mi.

71 mi. at widest point, 9.3 mi at its narrowest point

Population est. 2011: 7,797,400

(wikipedia.org)

Hello IsraelDemography: 75% Jewish, 20% Arabic, 4%

other

Languages: Hebrew and Arabic (many unofficial languages spoken because of immigration)

(wikipedia.org)

Climate and ResourcesMediterranean Climate: “long, hot,

rainless summers and relatively short, cool, rainy winters.” (wikipedia.org)

Most water sources lie in the north. (Tal)

Climate and ResourcesPrecipitation: 1,175 Million-Cubic Meters

(MCM)/year.

Freshwater: Lake Kinneret (or the Jordan River watershed), the Coastal Aquifer, and the Mountain Aquifer, as well as many smaller sources.

(Tal)

The Issue!Israel’s water resources, which have always

been fairly limited, are becoming increasingly strained mainly from over-pumping and pollution.

The situation is further stressed by the inequality of water allocation and needs of both Israelis and Palestinians.

InequalityIsrael drastically restricts the water of

Palestinians.

Israelis receive as much as five times more water than Palestinians.

Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory use water from Palestinian sources.

Urban“Over 90% of the population in Israel live in

moderate to large cities.” (Lipchin)

Uses 698 mcm/yr-domestic; 117 mcm/yr-industrial (jvl.org)

WHO standard of 100-150 l/day

Average Israeli uses 250 l/day (350 l/day with industry)

(wikipedia.org)

Urban"I'll begin with a dry fact: There's no water.“-

Uzi Landau

Low-flow faucet aerators- reduce water use by 30%-50%

Ban on watering private lawns, and stringent restrictions on public/business-owned lawns

Community water quotas

(haaretz.com)

UrbanIncrease water prices as much as three times

Desalination- build more plants and increase operating hours to 24/7.

Media Campaign: "Israel Mityabeshet" ("Israel is drying up")Decreased consumption by 12% (100,000 cubic

meters)

(Haaretz.com)

Agriculture“Making the desert bloom”

Agriculture is important to Israeli culture, thought to elevate the nation of Israel, played role in protecting Israel

AdmiredAgricultural communities: Kibbutzim and MoshavimBut only makes up 3% of GDP (ifamericansknew.org)

(Ben Gal)

Agriculturesome 435,000 ha are cultivated by 900

communities.

1,997 MCM needed annually in 2002 (only 82% renewable)

Fresh water use in agriculture has dropped from 950 MCM in 1998 to around 550 MCM today

(Ben Gal)

Agriculture3-fold increase in water productivityUse of wastewater (Effluent- treated

wastewater)450 mcm/yr

Use of brackish water80 mcm/yrRequires salt resistant crops, and careful soil

management

(Ben Gal)

AgricultureMicro-irrigation and fertigation

Drip irrigation seen a 15%-25% increase in efficiency

Fertigation: applying fertilizers through drip system.

• Also experimenting with plant specific irrigation

(Ben Gal)

AgricultureUnfortunately, use of salt water and

wastewater are not sustainableSalinity causes lower yields thus requiring

more water to be usedSoil and fresh ground water are eventually

contaminated

Desalinated water useReduces leaching, but is stripped of several

important minerals for plant growth (Ben Gal)

AgricultureIsrael placed restrictions on Palestine’s ability to

expand or make new wells.

Palestinian agriculture is mostly fueled by rain water, and is 90% of their GDP. (ifamericansknew.org)

Need more water to support irrigated crops, especially in Gaza strip.

(Assaf)

Pollution“If we were to adopt the high standards of water use

which are common in Europe, 70-80% of the water of the coastal aquifer would be deemed non-usable!” (Zaslavsky) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIMZHLo2d9o

A lot of pollution comes from: lack of planning and inspection, creation of industrial areas containing a wide variety of factories, lacking modern wastewater treatment plans (WWTP), unsupervised solid-waste dumps located at the edge of settlements and villages, and deficiencies in sewage infrastructure resulting in raw sewage discharge into river/stream basins

PollutionMunicipal uses often add 100-120 milligrams of

chlorine per liter.

Salt pollution- 200,000 tons added to aquifers each year.

Major pollution from rocket fuel at IDF factory. (haaretz.com)

Death of Australian athletes from poisoning. (jvl.org)

(Zaslavsky)

PollutionNow recycle a lot of wastewater through

irrigationSome believe this will have catastrophic

effects.

“From a practical standpoint, upgrading sewage treatment constitutes the single most important priority for improving water quality.” (Tubail)

Future HopesDesalination

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA_XVxhBmTQ

Works Cited “Aquifers.” debatepolitics.com. Image. Ben Gal, Alon and Assaf, Said. “Agriculture and Water.” Water Wisdom: Preparing the Groundwork for

Cooperative and Sustainable Water Management in the Middle East. Ed. Tal, Alon and Abed-Rabbo, Alfred. Rutgers Univeristy Press, 2010. 239-277. Print.

Bar-Eli, Avi. “Water Authority seeking to cut Israeli home water usage by 10% in 2009.” Haaretz.com.

“Geography of Israel.” Wikipedia.org. Inbar, Yossi and Tubail, Khalil. “Sewage Treatment.” Water Wisdom: Preparing the

Groundwork for Cooperative and Sustainable Water Management in the Middle East. Ed. Tal, Alon and Abed-Rabbo, Alfred. Rutgers Univeristy Press, 2010. 216-236. Print. 

“Jezreel Valley.” holylandphotos.org. Image. Lipchin, Clive. “The Water Culture of Israelis and Palestinians.” Water Wisdom: Preparing the

Groundwork for Cooperative and Sustainable Water Management in the Middle East. Ed. Tal, Alon and Abed-Rabbo, Alfred. Rutgers Univeristy Press, 2010. 77-89. Print.

Tal, Alon. “Israeli Water Resources – an Introduction.” Water Wisdom: Preparing the Groundwork for Cooperative and Sustainable Water Management in the Middle East. Ed. Tal, Alon and Abed-Rabbo, Alfred. Rutgers Univeristy Press, 2010. 6-40. Print.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Environment/envt2.html “Water in Palestine.” http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/water.html  “Water Supply and Sanitation in Israel.” Wikipedia.org.  Zazlavsky, Dan.“Definition of Israel’s Water Problems: Or Water as a Metaphor.” Bar-Ilan University. 14

June, 2000. Inauguration of Project.