Future War for Water?

[Ognir]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1025960.html

The past year has seen the sharpest drop in the water level of the Kinneret since measurements were first recorded, according to data the Water Authority published on Thursday.

Having fallen two meters over the past year, today the level of the Kinneret stands at 214.06 meters below sea level, more than a meter from the lowest red line.

The Water Authority revealed that the level is advancing at a disturbing speed towards the black line, emphasizing that the Kinneret is 5.26 meters from the highest red line.

Since Spring, 2004, the level of the Kinneret has dropped more than five meters which is about 850 million cubic meters of water, more than the amount of water consumed annually by Israel.

Aside from the serious water shortage, researchers at the Kinneret Limnological Laboratory in the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institution have become concerned that extreme changes in Kinneret water levels will cause a shock to the system.

"Kinneret monitoring and research laboratories have revealed that the range of change in water levels from year to year is expanding. Researchers in the Kinneret Limnological Laboratory are starting to learn how the ecological system is reacting to the changes in the water levels," said Dr. Tamar Zohary, the laboratory Director.

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

Hi Ognir,

Ifound this link back in February.   It may be of interest.  Looks like this issue has been on a "low boil" for many years. I think the Israelis are trying to tag-team with the Kurds in N. Iraq and using death squads abundantly there in an effort to secure water,  as well as possible oil pipelines in the future.

--The CSR
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Remember Israel, Turkey and Water in N. Iraq
by Crack_Smoke_Republican on 23.02.2008 [17:12 ]    
Water and Oil are both at play here for Jewish Zionist interests.


www. satyamag.com/jul98/water.html


Nowhere a Drop to Drink: The Politics of Water in the Middle East
By Beth Gould

Water is a highly politicized issue in the Middle East. It underlies all discussions about land, because the most desirable areas are those with access to an abundant water source, something rare in a part of the world where water is the most coveted natural resource. Water is the most immediate of necessities and the key to political stability. Indeed, Meir Ben-Meir, former Director General of Israel's Ministry of Agriculture, predicts that "the next war in the Middle East will be struggled over water." The problem has more to do with uneven and inequitable distribution of water than a shortage per se. Erosion of usable soil, depletion of underground resources, and salinization intensify existing contentions regarding water.

Because most fresh, usable water sources ignore political and territorial boundaries, any country attempting to increase water production infringes upon the needs and rights of its neighbors. A basic criterion of freshwater supply is the amount in cubic meters available per person (CM/Y). The standard of adequacy is measured at 1,000 CM/Y. In Egypt, the annual supply of water per capita is more than 1,200 CM/Y, but it depends entirely on the Nile. In Syria and Iraq, current supplies per capita exceed those of Egypt but are threatened by upstream developments. In the entire region, only Lebanon and Turkey enjoy a secure, abundant and independent supply of water.

The Tigris and Euphrates
The Tigris and Euphrates have a mutual origin, the highlands of Eastern Anatolia in Turkey. From here, the Tigris briefly enters Syria, then flows directly to Iraq. The Euphrates flows through Syria for hundreds of miles before entering Iraq. Syria receives the majority of its water from the Euphrates, and the maintenance or increase of the waterflow level is pivotal to expanding agriculture and industry.

Syria, however, may lose up to 40 percent of its water source when Turkey completes its Southeast Anatolia project. This ambitious project, which consists of a series of dams on the headwaters of both rivers, aims to generate electricity and allow increased agriculture to some of Turkey's poorest regions. Iraq, downstream of both Syria and Turkey, may lose as much as 80 percent of its inflow from the Euphrates.

The claims of these countries on the two rivers contradict each other, and are the source of complicated diplomatic negotiations which draw selectively upon International Law. Turkey claims absolute sovereignty over water resources originating in its territory. Iraq bases its case on the rivers' natural course, as well as historical rights to waters used by the people of southern Mesopotamia for over 6,000 years. Syria, in midstream, makes the same claim as upstream Turkey, but the opposite claim towards downstream Iraq.

Then there are the Kurds, whose traditional homeland encompasses the headwaters of the two rivers, and who have been fighting for statehood and thus independent water rights. None of the disputes in the Tigris-Euphrates basin has been resolved. Nor is there any mechanism, such as an international river basin commission, by which to negotiate an equitable resolution. Turkey can proceed with its plans because it is, economically and militarily, the dominant power. Also, because neither Turkey, Iraq or Syria agree on how to define ownership of water resources and believe that ownership rather than equal distribution is the pre-eminent concern, no compromise is currently being discussed.

http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/157163

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Sunday, July 16, 2006
The Israeli Lebanon Water Wars

If the water resources in your country are rapidly decreasing, and the neighbouring country has an intact water supply... and if you think that in the future you will need the other countries water supply... then you will not attack that country saying you need their water. If you attack that country you will do so for another reason, hiding your real objective behind a wall of deception and lies.

Israel has always had water problems. Today, in 2006, Israel lives with increasing water shortages and a rapidly decreasing supply of fresh water. The river Jordan may run dry within the next two years, because of the vast amount of water being drawn from the river by the people living in the area. People cannot survive without water, towns and cities cannot survive without water, past civilisations have died out as water became scarce. You cannot grow crops without water, which means you cannot store food. Water is the life blood of a nation.


In the Middle East, the supply of water is much less than its demand, thereby resulting in conflict over it. This is true for Israel and Lebanon, where there have been struggles, although not always armed, for the waters of the Litani River. At this point, Israel occupies southern Lebanon. Part of the Litani is located in this region.

Israel seemingly is tempted to reach beyond its border to get access to the needed water. "Almost half of the water currently used in Israel is captured, diverted or preempted from its neighbors." This is understandable, given water can be described as "Israel's vulnerable and fragile source of life."

Historically, Israel has been interested in the Litani, and conflict with Lebanon over the Litani is more likely given this. Essentially, control of the Litani has long been a dream of Israel in hopes of establishing a greater Zion from Sinai to ancient Babylon.

Israel hoped that it would have use of the Litani by the mid 1980s, when it projected that it would have fully used up the waters captured in the 1967 war. Israel hoped to meet this goal by securing the Litani in 1978. Israel had even included the Litani in calculations of their water resources.

Israel's significant sources of water are currently exploited, and the only other source is the Litani, which, in order for Israel to use it, would have to be in Israel's possession, which could possibly happen through seizure.

The only other source of additional water would be recycled water.

Israel could increase its annual water supply by 800 MCM (approximately 40% of its annual water consumption in 1993) if it had continued access to the Litani through continued/permanent occupation of southern Lebanon. Another reason for Israel to want the Litani is that, especially along the Israeli coast, many aquifiers are stressed and their water is increasingly brackish



http://earthchamber11.blogspot.com/

http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/95317