207
14.2 Water Scarcity in the Jordan River Basin
We consider the part of the Jordan River Basin that includes the three Dead Sea
riparian parties, namely, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (see Fig. 14.1 ).
3
A useful (albeit rough) index of regional water scarcity is the quantity of renewable
(natural) water available per person in a sustainable fashion, obtained by dividing
the average annual supply of renewable natural water by the existing population and
measured in units of cubic metre (m
3
) per year and person (m
3 /year per person).
Regions whose renewable water supplies fall below 1,000 m
3 /year per person or
500 m
3
/year per person are said to experience water scarcity or absolute scarcity,
respectively (Falkenmark et al. 1989 ). The 100 m
3
/year per person threshold is often
mentioned as the supply required to satisfy basic human needs (Gleick 1996 ). While
the supply of natural renewable water is on average constant (with possible trends
over the long run, due, e.g. to climate change), the population is expanding quite
rapidly in this region, implying that the m
3 /year per person index will decline over
time and therefore aggravating water scarcity.
Table 14.1 presents the average supply of renewable water in the Jordan River
Basin. It shows that the renewable (natural) water supplies (available on a sustainable fashion, i.e. without drawing down stocks) in the region comprised of Jordan,
Israel and the Palestinian Authority are on average 2,428 × 10
6 m
3 /year, and this
quantity includes 232 × 10
6 m
3
/year of brackish water (i.e. water with chloride concentration above 400 mg/l, which is unsuitable for drinking and irrigation of many
crops without mixing).
4 The total supply of good quality natural water is therefore
2,196 × 10
6 m
3 /year (=2,428 − 232) on average.
Figure 14.2 presents actual (as of 2011) and projected populations for Israel,
Jordan and the Palestinian Authority from 1950 to 2050. The m
3
/year per person
scarcity index is obtained by dividing the average annual water supply (2,196 × 10
6 m
3 /
year or 2,428 × 10
6 m
3
/year) by the population. The results are shown in Table 14.2 .
As the table reveals, the region as a whole is already far below the absolute scarcity mark of 500 m
3
/year per person and will soon enter subsistence scarcity below
100 m
3
/year per person. Such an acute scarcity implies that increasing the supply of
potable water for domestic uses receives the highest priority. This observation virtually implies that natural (potable) water cannot on its own achieve the goal of Dead
Sea reclamation (which, as noted above, requires 700 × 10
6 m
3 /year to 800 × 10
6 m
3 /
year just for stabilising the current level) and other sources must be found for that
purpose. These other sources are seawater or recycled water. Indeed, most proposals
for reclaiming the Dead Sea, either by stopping its decline or restoring its level to its
3 The Jordan River basin contains also parts of southern Lebanon and of southwest Syria. Due to
lack of data on these regions, they will not be included in this study.
4 A detailed account of natural, renewable water supplies (including inter-temporal fl uctuations)
can be found in Tsur ( 2014 ).
14 Reclaiming the Dead Sea: Alternatives for Action
14.2 Water Scarcity in the Jordan River Basin
We consider the part of the Jordan River Basin that includes the three Dead Sea
riparian parties, namely, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (see Fig. 14.1 ).
3
A useful (albeit rough) index of regional water scarcity is the quantity of renewable
(natural) water available per person in a sustainable fashion, obtained by dividing
the average annual supply of renewable natural water by the existing population and
measured in units of cubic metre (m
3
) per year and person (m
3 /year per person).
Regions whose renewable water supplies fall below 1,000 m
3 /year per person or
500 m
3
/year per person are said to experience water scarcity or absolute scarcity,
respectively (Falkenmark et al. 1989 ). The 100 m
3
/year per person threshold is often
mentioned as the supply required to satisfy basic human needs (Gleick 1996 ). While
the supply of natural renewable water is on average constant (with possible trends
over the long run, due, e.g. to climate change), the population is expanding quite
rapidly in this region, implying that the m
3 /year per person index will decline over
time and therefore aggravating water scarcity.
Table 14.1 presents the average supply of renewable water in the Jordan River
Basin. It shows that the renewable (natural) water supplies (available on a sustainable fashion, i.e. without drawing down stocks) in the region comprised of Jordan,
Israel and the Palestinian Authority are on average 2,428 × 10
6 m
3 /year, and this
quantity includes 232 × 10
6 m
3
/year of brackish water (i.e. water with chloride concentration above 400 mg/l, which is unsuitable for drinking and irrigation of many
crops without mixing).
4 The total supply of good quality natural water is therefore
2,196 × 10
6 m
3 /year (=2,428 − 232) on average.
Figure 14.2 presents actual (as of 2011) and projected populations for Israel,
Jordan and the Palestinian Authority from 1950 to 2050. The m
3
/year per person
scarcity index is obtained by dividing the average annual water supply (2,196 × 10
6 m
3 /
year or 2,428 × 10
6 m
3
/year) by the population. The results are shown in Table 14.2 .
As the table reveals, the region as a whole is already far below the absolute scarcity mark of 500 m
3
/year per person and will soon enter subsistence scarcity below
100 m
3
/year per person. Such an acute scarcity implies that increasing the supply of
potable water for domestic uses receives the highest priority. This observation virtually implies that natural (potable) water cannot on its own achieve the goal of Dead
Sea reclamation (which, as noted above, requires 700 × 10
6 m
3 /year to 800 × 10
6 m
3 /
year just for stabilising the current level) and other sources must be found for that
purpose. These other sources are seawater or recycled water. Indeed, most proposals
for reclaiming the Dead Sea, either by stopping its decline or restoring its level to its
3 The Jordan River basin contains also parts of southern Lebanon and of southwest Syria. Due to
lack of data on these regions, they will not be included in this study.
4 A detailed account of natural, renewable water supplies (including inter-temporal fl uctuations)
can be found in Tsur ( 2014 ).
14 Reclaiming the Dead Sea: Alternatives for Action