The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security - Unu-inweh ...

1. Water Security as a National Political Issue
Grey and Sadoff (2007: 546) define water security as “harnessing the productive potential of water and limiting its
destructive impact”. Water security has emerged as a crisis of global proportions, with major implications for national
and regional stability and conflict. Furthermore, water security is a decisive component of social and political security.
This cannot be truer than in the WANA region, where most of the countries are situated in a semi-arid to arid climatic
zone where more than 60% of the renewable water resources in the region are shared by one or more countries. Despite
warnings by regional experts that the wars of the 21 st century will be fought over water (WANA Forum, 2010a), in the
Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1978, and in the tension between Lebanon and Israel in 2002 and the subsequent war in
2006, water was the primary cause. In the absence of peace, and continual disregard of international humanitarian law,
water security is leading to increased tensions, instability and conflict. Examples of water conflicts in the following river
basins in the WANA region have already been experienced:
• Syria - Turkey - Iraq (Euphrates and Tigris rivers)
• Israel - Jordan - Palestine (Jordan River, Dead Sea)
• Israel - Palestine (groundwater aquifers of Occupied Territories)
• Jordan - Saudi Arabia (Al-Disi Aquifer)
• Syria - Jordan (Yarmouk River)
• Egypt - Sudan - Ethiopia (among 10 countries sharing the Nile River)
• Iran - Afghanistan (Hirmand River)
Each of the countries in the region considers water security to be of national concern. For example, water security is key to
establishing peace between the Palestinians and Israelis. As expressed by Nabil Al Sharif, former Minister of the Palestinian
Water Authority: “There will be no real peace if there is no water. If there is no water, I don’t think any agreement of peace
will live more than two or three years” (Vigotti and Hoffman, 2009). To shed light on the seriousness of the conflict over
water in the region, in June 2002, Lebanon restarted new infrastructure works to connect 60 communities to running
water for domestic use, supplying them with 10,000 m³ of water for domestic purposes a day (or 3.65 million m³ a year).
For Israel, these unilateral Lebanese acts were a violation of international law and a threat to the water security of their
country. Lebanon, referring to the 1953 Johnston Plan which granted Lebanon 35 million m³ of the Jordan (Hasbani)
River headwaters (Abujaber, 1989) argued that the move was in accordance with the principle of equitability in its water
share, and was therefore in accordance with international water law. Israel however, feeling threatened that their water
security was at risk even when the amount of water used by the Lebanese is less than 0.5% of the Israeli’s annual water
consumption, was ready to take up arms to stop the measures taken by Lebanon. The case was brought before the United
Nations, and only through intervention by ambassadors of the European Union and UN officials to deter possible Israeli
attacks during the inauguration of the project was the matter closed. It is painfully clear to see the importance of water
to the countries in the region and how conflict over water can easily escalate already tense relationships.
Governments of the region have now realized the shortcomings of having limited supplies of renewable water resources that
have reached their physical limit. Since the year 2000, governments have begun to pay more attention to the development
of water policies in line with the internationally recognized Integrated Water Resources Management approach (IWRM),
with longer planning horizons to cope with the expected water deficit challenge. Even though regional governments have
endorsed the recommendation from the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to articulate IWRM as a
management option by formulating their own water resources management plans (Arab Water Council et al., 2005), few
countries have yet to create sufficient capacity to implement these plans.
Furthermore, short-term fragmented management through the adoption of water policies that focus on meeting demand
should be replaced with flexible policies coordinated with agricultural, financial, social, environmental, energy, urban,
trade, and industrial policies. This should lead to water sustainability, ecosystem protection, and adaptation to the impacts
of climate change. The past explicit or implicit water policies in the region between 1960-2000 have largely focused on
addressing water resources scarcity by meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets, specifically through
securing adequate water supplies and sanitation services, especially in urban areas and through expansion of irrigation
schemes that have led to extensive groundwater mining. However, this will not be sufficient for ensuring sustainable
development and water security in the region, and a more integrated approach will be needed.
48 The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security Issue