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Water for the Future The West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel, and Jordan (1999) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix C: Effects of Water Use on Biodiversity in the Study Area
Pages 195-202

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From page 195...
... Rather than providing aesthetic and recreational opportunities, the river ecosystem generated unpleasant smells and mosquito outbreaks. The Taninim River has an annual flow of 50 million m3/yr.
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From page 196...
... Thus, the Taninim River may become a case in which implementing desalination technology for domestic water supplies will kill the only functioning coastal river ecosystem west of the Jordan River. THE JORDAN RIVER BASIN The basin elevation ranges from 90 m above sea level to 400 m below sea level and includes three source streams, which create the northern section of the Jordan River.
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From page 197...
... aquatic animal species, excluding unicellular and parasitic species, were recorded in the wetland prior to drainage. Of these, 19 were represented by peripheral populations (for 14 and 5 species the Hula constituted the southern and northern limit of the species' global distributions, respectively)
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From page 198...
... The management of the Hula wetland is a clear case of water resource development raising conflicts between agriculture and the ecosystem services provided to society by biodiversity. Agricultural development in the reclaimed Hula lands potentially conflicts with water quality downstream in Lake Kinneret.
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From page 199...
... A high density of microalgae and high salinity reduce the quality of the lake as a provider of potable water and irrigation water, respectively. Microalgae cause undesirable odor and taste and secrete toxic compounds and materials that interfere with the disinfecting process of potable water.
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From page 200...
... Low water levels also affect the littoral and shallow estuaries (Gasith and Gafny, 1990~. The turbidity associated with low water levels deposits muddy sediments on pebbles and other hard substrates, thus reducing their quality for fish reproduction.
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From page 201...
... reduced water quality due to increased suspended materials and algal productivity brought about by further decrease in the summer volume of the lake's lower strata, hence faster rate of prevalence of anaerobic conditions, earlier accumulation of sulfides, earlier release of phosphate from the lake's bottom, and additional 33 percent increase in dissolved phosphate; and (2) reduced ecosystem stability, via food chain fluctuations brought about by changes in the food chain of littoral dependent fish-zooplankton-phytoplankton.
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From page 202...
... 1990. Effect of water level fluctuation on the structure and function of the littoral zone.
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Key Terms

  • lake kinneret
  • water level
  • dead sea
  • lower jordan
  • water quality

  • water levels
  • nature reserves
  • hula wetland
  • low water
  • animal species

  • river ecosystem
  • timsah springs
  • aquatic animal
  • food chain
  • lower water

  • low level
  • phosphorous compounds
  • hula project
  • taninim river
  • low salinity

  • river basin
  • wetland nature
  • kinneret ecosystem
  • ecosystem functions
  • receding coastline

  • sea level
  • coastal river
  • peripheral populations
  • hard substrates
  • economic feasibility


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