Most of these waters are a source of contention between the upstream and downstream states and the riparian countries. To address these problems, relevant organizations and experts have been vocal in many regional and international conferences and forums, and have called on governments to adopt political and institutional reforms, especially legal ones that would make it possible to secure water through costly projects, raise awareness, and mainstream a culture of rationalization of consumption by improving the efficiency of networks, decreasing water losses, and protecting water from overexploitation.
There is no doubt that we are facing many challenges in addressing all these problems. What are these challenges?
Water has become an urgent requirement for sustainable development in the Arab region, and the total volume of surface water resources available in Arab countries is estimated at 277 billion mᶟ annually, with only 43% originating in the Arab region. Therefore, 57% of the water comes from outside the Arab region, hence the first challenge that gives rise to officials’ concerns in all states and preoccupies them in view of the difficulty of meeting the increasing demand for water.
The second challenge lies in the fact that the per capita fresh water in the Arab region is the lowest in the world, less than 800 mᶟ annually, while the global average is 7500 mᶟ annually and the pressure is 1000 mᶟ annually. Accordingly, the Arab region has joined the axis of “water depletion”, hence the need to use non-traditional (industrial) means to produce fresh water for drinking and irrigation in the region, particularly:
- Desalination of seawater, which requires the consumption of large amounts of energy, i.e. 1.7 kilowatts of energy for every mᶟ of water. In this connection, it should be noted that the Arab Gulf States allocate about 30% of their energy production to desalination.
- Digging deep wells in non-renewable aquifers, and pumping water to supply Arab cities with drinking water. Jordan, for instance, pumps water from the Disi aquifer to Amman at a depth of 1000 m over a distance of 350 km to transport water that will be stored in a 12,000 mᶟ reservoir, thus causing potential aquifer depletion and future conflicts over shared aquifers. On the other hand, the issue is also closely connected with food security, as the irrigation sector in the Arab region will deplete about 80% of the fresh renewable water while the percentage for Arab Mediterranean countries is 56%. This high percentage is attributed to the use of old, not modern, irrigation methods such as drip irrigation which consumes 6000 mᶟ, rather than 10,000 mᶟ, of water to irrigate one hectare, in addition to the lack of consuming non-conventional water (wastewater) undergoing secondary and tertiary treatment and used for irrigation in northern Mediterranean countries.
The third challenge, which I see as part of “imminent risks”, lies in the factors of time and climate change, with their major impact on the amount of water available in rivers.
This pressing reality compels states to covet their neighbors’ national waters and ignore the fundamentals of inter-state interaction and international law. The United Nations has rectified the situation, not only to avoid conflicts and wars and the resulting damages, but also to achieve an optimal, equitable and fair use of the shared water resources, based on the 1997 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (UN Watercourses Convention) in order to establish the concept of “cooperation”, as opposed the concept of “military administration and domination” of the shared river basins, thus representing the fourth challenge.
The Arab states ratified this Convention, with Lebanon among the first countries to ratify it in 1999 and apply it to the basins of the Orontes and the Nahr al-Kabir al-Janoubi (regarding Lebanon and Syria). However, the implementation of the Convention necessitated a reconsideration of other signed conventions.
Accordingly, states have adopted the concept of water diplomacy in addressing these issues, with a view to stimulating cooperation for the sake of humanity, rather than letting these waterways become a source of conflict between states.
The importance of water diplomacy in strengthening international cooperation is gradually being recognized. Despite its abundant resources, the Mediterranean region faces a water crisis aggravated by rapid climate change, whereby sub-regional tensions create an atmosphere of political instability as a result of water scarcity.
The Middle East region, including Lebanon, is considered a vulnerable region due to global changes affecting water resources and having adverse consequences on water resources. By the year 2025, the world population is expected to increase from about 7 billion to 9 billion.
This population growth will be accompanied by an increase in food needs, and consequently water needs since agriculture is the main consumer of fresh water (about 70%, compared to 12% for domestic use and 18% for average industrial use in the world).
It is generally accepted that our climate is changing and that the process may accelerate in the 21st century. The term climate change does not just mean “global warming”, but it is also possible that extreme climatic events will be compounded in the future, as witnessed in many countries of the world.
Water diplomacy
Water diplomacy is an instrument of cooperation between riparian countries and aims to resolve tensions at the basin level by turning water into a catalyst for peace rather than a source of conflict. In this sense, it is a means for building an integrated management of water resources, national and transnational, according to a cooperative model, without the logic of fragmentation, security or domination, which are harmful to the social and economic development of many countries.
Water diplomacy aims to build a new form of governance that aspires to build peace, a process of water conflict prevention, mediation and conflict resolution. The purpose is to exclude all forms of domination by any country over another, prevent militarily dominant countries from accessing water resources, and reject the concept of safe or dominant management of resources.
To achieve its goals, water treatment mobilizes both technical and diplomatic expertise. It brings together diplomats, scientific experts, academics and policy makers at the level of transboundary basins, in order to achieve a fair and reasonable use of water and bring mutual benefit for riparian countries and regions.
Lebanon’s example of water diplomacy regarding the Orontes River:
The key to this success was the implementation by Lebanon and Syria of the 1997
UN Watercourses Convention as a legal framework, in addition to following a technical and institutional pathway aimed at establishing a basin organization. Until 1994, the Convention was disadvantageous to Lebanon and beneficial to Syria. A new process of negotiations began in 1999 and led in 2002 to increasing Lebanon’s share by an additional 30 million mᶟ, as well as the construction of two dams on the Orontes and one dam on the Nahr al-Kabir al-Janoubi and a hydroelectric power station producing 80 megawatts. All of this was based on the1997 UN Watercourses Convention and accordingly, Lebanon established a new concept, namely water diplomacy. The concept of water diplomacy was adopted by UNESCO, which endorsed in 2015 the presentation of this case as an ideal model for negotiation in a book entitled Science Diplomacy and Transboundary Water Management: The Orontes River Case.
This book is also an opportunity for UNESCO to adopt the concept of water diplomacy.
The Dead Sea torn between the options of drought or sustainable management of the Jordan River Basin
The Dead Sea, a salt lake with an area of 810 km2, has lost one third of its surface area over the past 50 years due to Israel’s diversion of the waters of the Jordan River Basin since 1950, the overexploitation of this basin’s waters for irrigation purposes, as well as the overexploitation of potash, which has also accelerated the evaporation process, leading to a decline in sea water level at an annual rate of 90 cm as a result of Israel’s unilateral actions. The shrinking of the Dead Sea has also caused a geological problem: giant craters are considered to be the common enemy of villages and institutions on the Jordanian and Israeli coasts (located on the river banks). We can count more than 5,500 craters which did not exist 40 years ago.
The Dead Sea is a terminal lake fed by the Jordan River which originates from Mount Hermon in Lebanon and has practically 4 riparian countries, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. The river is subject to the military administration and domination of Israel which occupies the Shebaa Farms, the Golan Heights and the West Bank.
It should be noted that the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is implemented with regard to the basin and cooperation-based management, based on the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention adopted by all Arab riparian countries (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine). The accounting of all available resources has been achieved in accordance with the concept of new water masses, including conventional and non-conventional water resources, in addition to interdependence solutions. This includes the Red Sea-Dead Sea Conveyance (RSDSC) Project, which aims to dig a 180 km canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, while the difference in elevation of 400 meters will be used to operate a hydroelectric power station. This can bring about sustainable solutions for all riparian areas included in the RSDSC project.
For Jordan, the Oslo Agreement, whose articles have not been fully implemented, is a sort of bilateral cooperation between this country and Israel. Located at the bottom of the river basin, Jordan is currently attempting, in partnership with Israel, to develop the RSDSC project, which will supply more than one billion m³ of non-conventional water to meet its needs. Palestine has recently sought to join this project, which was supposed to include all the riparian countries, but due to the pressure exerted on all Arab states, it was restricted to two parties, namely Israel and Jordan. Lebanon submitted to the United Nations a project to integrate conventional and non-conventional waters in order to establish a joint basin management authority under the United Nations auspices.
Given Israel’s dominant management/administration of the Jordan River Basin, the diplomatic task of arriving at good governance/management solutions based on the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention in the area is actually prohibited.
The four Arab riparian countries that signed the Convention are constantly seeking to enhance cooperation for the equitable management of this basin. While Israel is not a signatory to the Convention and promotes hegemonic measures in its water management, pressure reagrding water issues in the Arab countries is affected as a result.
According to the 2018 World Bank report, Israel uses 90% of the water, while the Palestinians use only 10%, thus showing the large difference in water consumption between Palestinians and Israelis. According to the World Bank report, 90% of the water in the West Bank is used by Israel, whereas the Palestinians benefit from only 10% of it, hence the gap in water consumption between the Israelis and Palestinians, with 30 litres per person per day for the latter compared to 380 litres per person per day for the former.
In addition, based on the report of the French National Assembly, the policy of domination over Syria is aimed at occupying the Golan Heights, which covers 22% of Israel’s water needs. This is also similar to the case of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers originating in Turkey which exerts pressure reagrding water issues on Iraq and Syria after the implementation of the GAP project (South Eastern Anatolian Project) in Turkey.
According to the 2011 report of the French National Assembly, Israeli political and military domination over the Jordan River Basin is manifested in its occupation of the Golan Heights in Syria, which covers 22% of Israel’s water needs, and in its occupation of the Shebaa Farms in Lebanon.
Water diplomacy is an instrument of cooperation between riparian countries, and aims to resolve tensions at the basin level by turning water into a catalyst for peace rather than a source of conflict.
The concept of water diplomacy, which I presented to the international community following the negotiations on the Asi River Basin, is an example of successful negotiations which, after more than 50 years of negotiations, led to concluding a win-win agreement for the Lebanese and Syrian sides regarding the sharing of the waters of the Orontes and the Nahr al-Kabir al-Janoubi rivers.
The fundamental concept of water diplomacy is based on the unconventional principle of “fair and equitable sharing of the benefits of water” and assumes more importance than the concept of water quotas related to per capita and collective consumption of water per se. Such a policy orientation becomes an integral part of the climate change adaptation strategy and plays a key role in identifying priorities for the development and management of transboundary basins. However, water diplomacy should be informed, promoted and facilitated through the support and use of appropriate international institutional frameworks, in conjunction with dialogue and cooperation on the basis of the fair sharing and rational use of water in transboundary basins in order to prevent and resolve conflicts between contending parties in accordance with the “water for peace” approach, thus abandoning the “war and water” discourse and standpoints.
It is necessary to point out that water diplomacy is not an alternative diplomacy that supersedes/substitutes for national decision-makers. It rather represents a set of concepts and working mechanisms proposed in cooperation between the relevant experts, in order to address in a conscious and coherent way, the vital and urgent water issues and problems, and suggest ways to find solutions to them, taking into consideration the views and aspirations of non-state stakeholders in the transboundary basins (eg. local authorities, communities, economic sectors and civil society in general) in all riparian countries, with a view to implementating the agreed measures with regard to basin management.
The concept of water diplomacy, based on the IWRM concept, would supply an additional amount of water in the region using conventional and non-conventional water resources to implement the National Water Model (NWM). If this model is applied to the Jordan River basin, for example, it will enable access to about 4 billion m³ of water per year, provided that this contribution is equitably shared by the basin countries so that Arab countries regain the territories occupied in 1967, namely the Syrian Golan Heights in Syria and the Shebaa Farms in Lebanon, and consequently refute the Israeli excuses related to land occupation in exchange for water.
The allocation of the new water mass (4 billion m³ per year) accroding to the NWM among the riparian countries must be based on the concept of fair sharing and equitable use. The related procedures should also be based on common and well-defined technical standards in order to avoid water losses in all water investment sectors (drinking and irrigation water and environmental conservation).
The accession to, ratification and proper implementation of the 1997 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (UN Watercourses Convention), and the 1992 UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention), both of which represent the foundation of international water law, constitute a major pillar for the development of water diplomacy and regional cooperation in the Middle East, and facilitate the establishment of regular channels of communication on water diplomacy between the riparian countries.
Moreover, all appropriate international and regional conventions and processes, water-related initiatives, the integrated management of water resources, coastal areas, and aquifers, and climate change adaptation, exemplified in the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols and the Union for the Mediterranean are basic tools, frameworks and mechanisms for water diplomacy in the region.
The basis for the allocation of the new water mass accroding to the NWM
The allocation of the new water mass (4 billion m³ per year) accroding to the NWM among the riparian countries must be based on the concept of fair sharing and equitable use. The related procedures should also be based on common and well-defined technical standards in order to avoid water losses in the following water investment sectors:
1- Drinking water sector
- 200 liters per person per day (including water leaked in distribution networks, which should not exceed 25%). A collective effort should be made to enhance the efficiency of drinking water systems. Consequently, the implementation of a strategy for the rehabilitation of water distribution networks is based on:
- The rehabilitation of drinking water networks to reduce water losses;
- The need for the construction of dams such as the Ebel al-Saqi Dam and the al-Wehda Dam to increase water resources, and for the desalination of sea water and the RSDSC project in order to regulate the management of the upper basin;
- A fair tariff policy for users in light of the new water mass resources, whether they are conventional or non-conventional. Regions having distribution systems whose efficiency exceeds 75% are entitled to significant discounts to encourage them to stop water losses; and
- The need to install water meters in all distribution networks, and the possible use of the public-private partnerships to achieve these goals.
2- Irrigation water sector
- Enhancing the efficiency of irrigation systems and adopting a system to monitor the quality of irrigation water in order to limit the amount of irrigation water per hectare to 7000 m³ at most. This amount necessitates the use of new irrigation techniques (sprinkler and drip irrigation) and fertilization to improve the quality of irrigation systems;
- Establishing Water User Associations (WUA) to manage small and medium enterprises (SMEs);
- Reusing treated wastewater for irrigation; and
- Reducing landscape green spaces which consume large amounts of water.
3- Environmental conservation
- Application of the “polluter pays” principle to riparian countries that pollute international waterways;
- Preserving river ecosystems and establishing a technical monitoring system that constantly prevents the rivers’ ecosystems degradation; and
- Installing sewage treatment plants to protect the water quality in the rivers and avoid causing damage by polluting the lower basin.
The Transboundary River Basin Organization (RBO) is a mechanism for ensuring an appropriate environment for the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and for undertaking the following actions:
• Allocating water equitably among the riparian countries;
• Integrated planning of infrastructure projects;
• Providing group training at the regional level;
• Developing strategies for the management of natural resources and programs to rehabilitate the degraded soil and river ecosystems;
• Establishing a training program for the decision-making and conflict management processes;
• Setting up a databank for reliable and accessible regional water data, in order to standardize quantitative and qualitative data on regional water resources for the riparian countries of the same basin. The Euro-Mediterranean Information System on Know-how in the Water Sector (SEMIDE) can establish a regional office to ensure the continuous monitoring of this institution;
• Establishing this regional body of the Transboundary River Basin Organization (RBO) under the auspices of the United Nations or the Union for the Mediterranean and assigning its management to representatives from the five riparian countries, provided that the chairmanship is rotated among them;
• Application of good governance; and
• Establishing information and training centers in the water sector in countries like Lebanon, Palestine and others.
These measures provide a permanent solution that compensates for the water shortage and brings about lasting peace to future generations in the region.