August 18, 2005

The Portland chapter of Brit Tzedek vˇ¦Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, is proud to host Mideast water resources expert Dr. Jeff Albert in a discussion of water issues and their impact on the pursuit of peace for Israel and the Palestinians.

Much of the eastern Mediterranean region is arid and semi-arid. Water scarcity has left its mark on the areaˇ¦s people for generations, but what makes the Israeli-Palestinian case so complicated is the fact that most of the rivers and aquifers are transboundary: Both the Jordan River system and the major aquifers of the region cross international boundaries, including the ˇ§Green Lineˇ¨ between Israel and the occupied territories.

Water allocation in the region has come about not according to international legal or diplomatic resolutions, but by a series of unilateral steps. In the 1960s, Israel completed its National Water Carrier, to transport water from the Sea of Galilee to the coastal plain and further south, diverting water that would have flowed naturally into the West Bank. Israel also controls the vast majority of the groundwater of the West Bank by managing Palestinian aquifer withdrawals, and has limited Palestinian extraction of groundwater for irrigation purposes.

Disputes over the areaˇ¦s water remain largely unresolved ˇV indeed, one of the most pressing issues in the wake of the recent Gaza withdrawal is the question of control over aquifers in the Gaza Strip. Population growth in Israel, the Palestinian areas, Jordan, and Syria mean water resources are being depleted at rates far higher than they are naturally replenished. Moreover, hazardous levels of pollution threaten the region's surface and ground waters.

The combination of these factors has created an unmistakable crisis, with no resolution in sight. Israeli and Palestinian water scientists have established important professional contacts in spite of political tensions and violence, and could reach innovative solutions together ˇV but these will require steady cooperation on the part of the regionˇ¦s leaders, and a willingness to make bold, possibly difficult decisions.

Jeff Albert is the co-founder and CEO of the Aquaya Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to water resource innovation in the developing world. He also teaches at the Arava Institute of Environmental Studies in Israel and has an adjunct faculty position at Brown University. Between 1998 and 2001, Albert was on the staff of the Israeli Water Commission, the agency with prime responsibility for water allocation. He serves on the board of BritTzedek.

Brit Tzedek vˇ¦Shalom is a national, grassroots organization of American Jews deeply committed to Israel's well-being through the achievement of a negotiated settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.