Treating the symptom but not the disease
Davidovich presented “A Commodity So in Demand, It May Even Buy Peace,” to that Teva Learning Center at its Environmental Conference last month. The talk outlined grandiose and resource intensive projects; while no one doubts Israel’s ability and sheer determination to build these projects, the state seems to be misdirecting valuable resources. All of the projects address issues of supply, as opposed to demand. Without addressing demand, Israel will never confront the key issue that drives the region’s water scarcity, and will always be trying to create more water. This is not a sustainable model.
Davidovich began by acknowledging that water is not a political issue, given that water knows no territorial boundaries. “We are not speaking politics here. We are speaking water,” he said. “We’re going to speak about Israel, but it’s not only about Israel. It’s about the entire region. We need to understand that we are talking about the big picture of our neighborhood.”
He added, however, that Israel’s water crisis stems in part from Jordanian, Palestinian and Bedouin pressure. “The Kinneret is the only large reservoir that we have in Israel. Before the 1967 War, remember, Syria used the Kinneret, Jordan used the Kinneret and Israel used the Kinneret. I will tell you a secret. We are still sharing the water.”
This necessary collaboration may provide an avenue for negotiations, said Davidovich, because it is a concern that transcends the military conflicts of Syria and Israel. Although Israel and Syria have no formal diplomatic relations, they have been sharing water for decades. When were speaking about water in the Middle East we need to speak about collaboration,” he told New Voices after his address. “Because the Palestinians and Israelis and Jordanians are sharing the same natural water resource, the main idea is to find a way that in each of the countries representatives in charge of the water will learn to work together to make a decision [about] how to share the natural water resource.”
Davidovich explained, for example, that one of Israel’s aquifers–or underground water reservoirs–spans the territory of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. When a Palestinian state is established, the two countries will have to figure out how to divide the aquifer’s reserves so as not to deplete its resources.
Israel must be concerned about neighboring countries’ water usage, but Davidovich’s presentation did not address the extent of Israeli demand itself. Household usage matters and Israel’s population growth estimates are 2.9 percent per year. Beyond that, large industries and agriculture have more substantive water demands. Davidovich noted that Coca-Cola alone uses 100 million cubic meters of Israel’s water per year. JNF representatives approached Coca-Cola to ask them to balance out their demand with a financial contribution toward JNF’s Parsons Fund, the organization’s research and development center for the water crisis. This solution, however, still does not address the core of the demand issue.
Israel’s government promotes water conservation as the most reliable and least expensive way to stretch the country’s resources. The government has responded to the crisis by cutting freshwater allocation for agricultural use. They are now supporting re-used sewage water and non-potable water projects for agriculture and do not allocate water for public parks and gardens. The government taxes individual households for excessive water usage.
On the supply side, Israel is in trouble. Davidovich noted that Israel is a semi-arid area which receives less than five inches of rain per year, much of it of poor quality.
“The problem is not only the five inches,” he said. “This is why, when we are speaking about water, it is not only about amount of water. It is about frequency of rain and another thing, the quality of water. We are all the time thinking about drinkable water.”
Davidovich outlined two primary concerns about diminished water supply: increasing salination in both the aquifers and the Kinneret, both of which are facing irreversible damage. Nitrate pollution from extensive fertilizer use is also problematic. Nitrogen can pass through the soil and contaminate ground water. Aquifers are also vulnerable to nitrate accumulation.
After explaining Israel’s acute need for water, Davidovich outlined several of JNF’s projects. The Shamir Drill Project is the deepest water drilling effort in Israel. This suggests, however, that Israel is exhausting its resources in digging deeper. The main environmental concern here is soil salination. Water extraction can lead to salt accumulation and dry out the soil, which limits agricultural capacity. There is also a possibility of methane contamination in the water if JNF digs water wells too close to natural gas wells.
Davidovich also toted Israel’s five desalination plants along its coast, and its plans for two additional stations. Water desalination, according to Davidovich, costs 60 cents per cubic meter. But this figure does not take into account any externalities, or costs to the environment and general public. Israel will have to pay to pump out the water, and pumping salt water requires more energy than the does freshwater. The Mediterranean coastline is also a prime piece of real estate with the potential for tourism and local fisheries, instead of desalination plants.
Davidovich touted the plants–which will produce 770 million cubic meters of drinkable water by 2020–as Israel’s ticket out of dependence on rainfall. “Most of the freshwater in Israel will be as a result of process and Israel will not be dependent only on natural water resources, not dependent only on rain,” he told New Voices.
Davidovich acknowledged that Israel must also protect the Mediterranean Sea, so each site takes water two miles from the shoreline and redeposits the salt one mile from the shore. Heavy concentrations of brine, however, can harm marine life, even though Davidovich claimed that tidal currents would redistribute the salt deposits.
JNF is, however, restoring another body of water with the River Rehabilitation and Recreation project, one of the organization’s larger initiatives. JNF is cleaning and reviving a polluted riverbed that runs through Be’er Sheva, and plans to run purified water through the riverbed. Davidovich did not clarify the details of this resource intensive project, nor does the JNF’s website offer more clues. How much energy will be needed to purify the water? How would it be directed towards the riverbed?
What is the likelihood of the riverbed drying up again?
JNF is also experimenting with other ideas, such as the Ramon Air Force Base Constructed Wetlands in the Negev. Here, wetlands purify the used water from the desert army base, which will save 80 million gallons of fresh water per year and which would address demand. While there are many positive effects to having the army recycle its own waste water, the implications of constructing wetlands in the desert are uncertain, as they may interfere with the region’s eco-habitat. Davidovich also
advocated increasing the Israeli population in dry areas. One audience member kept asking “But why are you putting wetlands in the desert?”
The answer is demand. JNF is putting wetlands in the desert because there are army bases in the desert, and those bases need water. JNF and Israel’s government could better address the water crisis by seeking to examine the issue with a focus on long-term environmental ramifications. Israel can attempt to increase the water supply, but demand from people and industries will keep growing, and if Israel continues to interfere with environmental processes, it could harm the land it is trying to save.
With additional reporting by Ben Sales
