Water for the Future The West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel, and Jordan (1999) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-9
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From page 1... ...
For the present generation, water-related concerns primarily focus on the distribution of the resource within society and the preservation and protection of water quality. For future generations, additional concerns will be to ensure adequate water supplies and preserve the quality of the environment, in addition to achieving greater equity in the distribution of water throughout the area.
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From page 2... ...
The study area's highest rainfall amounts those of more than 1,000 mm fall in a small area of highlands in the northwestern part of the study area. By comparison, most of the United States east of the Mississippi River receives more than 800 mm of rainfall per year; much of the eastern United States and much of the Pacific Northwest west of the Cascades receive 1,000 mm or more.
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From page 3... ...
Surface water also provides important services. Streams help to assimilate wastewater, lakes provide storage for clean water, and surface waters provide habitat for many plants and animals important to humans and to ecosystem functioning.
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A good way to ensure that these consequential relationships are directly considered in water resources planning is to take a regional hydrologic viewpoint. For example, the failure to view water resources planning regionally could lead to indiscriminate ground-water development of the Mountain Aquifer that underlies both Israel and the West Bank.
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From page 5... ...
These measures include monitoring the quality of water resources; scientific and technological research and development to make more efficient use of available resources without contaminating or degrading the resource; intergenerational assessments of the effects of particular water projects and uses; effective maintenance of capital investments, such as dams, municipal sewage treatment plants and water delivery systems; protection of watersheds and aquifer recharge areas by appropriate land use planning; and systems for sharing the resources equitably among communities. This report assesses specific management options to shape the study area's future water resources and use, keeping in mind the criteria noted previously (see page 1~.
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From page 6... ...
Thus, attempting to meet future regional demands by simply increasing withdrawals of ground and surface water will result in unsustainable development characterized by widespread environmental degradation and depletion of freshwater resources. Conservation Given the rate of population growth, water quality and quantity will not be sustainable unless suitable conservation methods are used in all three major sectors of water use urban, agricultural, and industrial.
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From page 7... ...
Through rationing, research, and possibly through economic policies, agricultural water use may become even more efficient. However, as regional nonagricultural water demand increases and the cost of obtaining additional water supplies grows more expensive, the role of agriculture in the economy of the study area may need to be reevaluated (e.g., shifting from more to less water-intensive crops)
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From page 8... ...
Appropriate pricing ensures that appropriate signals are sent to consumers about the true cost of water, requiring each consumer to pay the marginal cost of the resources used, and given some fixed level of benefits ensures that the costs of providing the water are reduced. Pricing policies that encourage conservation, including marginal cost pricing, time-of-use pricing, and water surcharges generally work best where the quantity of water demanded is reasonably responsive to price.
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From page 9... ...
The results will provide a solid basis for thoughtful, peaceful action to achieve the sustained use of crucial water resources. Rather than suggest a particular political plan, the committee has outlined a broad scope of concepts from which constructive action can emerge.
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