14
Introducing Sustainability Issues to the Water
Management of the Lower Jordan Valley
H. Kupfersberger
Institute of Hydrogeology and Geothermics, Joanneum Research GmbH
Elisabethstr. 16,8010 Graz, Austria e-mail:hans.kupfersberger@joanneum.at.
Tel: +43-316-8761378. Fax: +43-316-8761321
Abstract
Future plans for water demand in the Lower Jordan Valley indicate that domestic
and agricultural water consumption will exponentially grow and by far exceed
already deteriorated water resources. To provide a perspective to this unbalanced
situation, the concept of sustainability is introduced. Within this chapter
definitions of environmental, social, and economic sustainability aspects of
managing limited water resources are given. However, measures to implement
sustainable water management will face various obstacles, the more important of
which are timely realization and political feasibility. A stepwise approach is
suggested to integrate sustainability aspects into a water resources management
plan. The idea consists of alternating between supply and demand aspects. First,
the total water resources are quantified favoring environmental aspects. Then,
prioritized water demand is considered with increasing emphasis on economic
features. The agricultural sector which is currently dominating the total water
consumption figures receives the lowest priority. Since this will be a dramatic
societal change for the involved entities, compensation measures will have to be
offered.
1 Introduction
In 1997 the European Union has funded a 3-year project entitled Developing
Sustainable
Water
Management
in
the
Jordan
Valley
(http://systemforschung.arcs.ac.atijowapubID. The main objective of the project is
to develop the scientific basis for an integral management plan of water resources
and their use in the Lower Jordan Valley. The project team consists of regional
partners of each of the corresponding entities, i.e., Israel, Palestine, and Jordan,
and of two Austrian scientific consulting partners. The project is planned as work
packages that are based on each other showing increasing complexity. The work
packages include data collection by the regional partners, analysis of current and
H. Rubin I P. Nachtnebell J. Fuerst I U. Shamir
Preserving the Quality of Our Water Resources
© Springer-VerJag Berlin Heidelberg 2002
Introducing Sustainability Issues to the Water
Management of the Lower Jordan Valley
H. Kupfersberger
Institute of Hydrogeology and Geothermics, Joanneum Research GmbH
Elisabethstr. 16,8010 Graz, Austria e-mail:hans.kupfersberger@joanneum.at.
Tel: +43-316-8761378. Fax: +43-316-8761321
Abstract
Future plans for water demand in the Lower Jordan Valley indicate that domestic
and agricultural water consumption will exponentially grow and by far exceed
already deteriorated water resources. To provide a perspective to this unbalanced
situation, the concept of sustainability is introduced. Within this chapter
definitions of environmental, social, and economic sustainability aspects of
managing limited water resources are given. However, measures to implement
sustainable water management will face various obstacles, the more important of
which are timely realization and political feasibility. A stepwise approach is
suggested to integrate sustainability aspects into a water resources management
plan. The idea consists of alternating between supply and demand aspects. First,
the total water resources are quantified favoring environmental aspects. Then,
prioritized water demand is considered with increasing emphasis on economic
features. The agricultural sector which is currently dominating the total water
consumption figures receives the lowest priority. Since this will be a dramatic
societal change for the involved entities, compensation measures will have to be
offered.
1 Introduction
In 1997 the European Union has funded a 3-year project entitled Developing
Sustainable
Water
Management
in
the
Jordan
Valley
(http://systemforschung.arcs.ac.atijowapubID. The main objective of the project is
to develop the scientific basis for an integral management plan of water resources
and their use in the Lower Jordan Valley. The project team consists of regional
partners of each of the corresponding entities, i.e., Israel, Palestine, and Jordan,
and of two Austrian scientific consulting partners. The project is planned as work
packages that are based on each other showing increasing complexity. The work
packages include data collection by the regional partners, analysis of current and
H. Rubin I P. Nachtnebell J. Fuerst I U. Shamir
Preserving the Quality of Our Water Resources
© Springer-VerJag Berlin Heidelberg 2002