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Middle East.
Toward Peace and Cooperation.
1.
For all of the countries of the Middle East, long-term sustainable economic development will
350 depend in large part upon access to clean and dependable supplies of freshwater. Access to water, in turn,
will depend upon regionwide comprehensive management of the shared major river and ground-water
basins. Although new sources of water may eventually be developed, cooperation over the existing water
355 resources is essential: unless current water supplies are equitably and efficiently allocated and used,
agreements to enlarge the overall pie will he stymied.
2.
Enormous differences remain among the parties. Jordan still has a serious dispute with Syria over
360 the damming of and withdrawals from the Yarmuk River; no formal agreements on water rights have been
worked out between the Palestinians and Israelis; Turkey, Syria, and Iraq have no formal treaty allocating
the waters of the Euphrates; and rapidly growing populations throughout the region are competing for an
365 inadequate overall water supply, raising unanswered questions about the costs of alternative water sources.
3.
At the broadest level, the Middle East needs a comprehensive framework for planning and managing
370 shared water resources. If necessary, such a framework could be convened by third-party nations and
institutions and include regional and national studies on water supply and demand, the development of
standards for the collection and dissemination of data, the establishment of Jordan and Euphrates river
375 basin authorities with representation from all of the people dependent on those water resources, and the
identification of mechanisms for implementing joint projects. Some of the goals of a framework water
convention would include identifying minimum water requirements and the equitable allocation of water;
380 water-use efficiency capabilities and goals; means for shifting water use within and among sectors, such as
through water «banks» or marketing; and objectives for providing new supplies. The opportunity for
conflict over water in the Middle East is high, but peaceful, effective cooperation remains a goal worth
striving for.
box 1. WATER AND THE MIDDLE EAST PEACE TALKS
by Peter Yolles and Peter H.Gleick
Peter Yolles is a research assistant at the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and
Security, based in Oakland, California. Peter H. Gleick is the director of the Pacific Institute's Global
Environment Program.
Water is such an important aspect of the international relationships in the Middle East that it has been
made an explicit part of the ongoing peace talks. There are two tracks to these talks, the bilateral talks and
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the multilateral talks. The official goal of the bilateral negotiations is a «just, lasting, and cornprehensive
peace». These talks are where the major political questions are being worked out in meetings between
Israel and each of the other interests in the area. The major water issues in the bilateral talks are defining
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and securing appropriate shares of water rights. Discussion of the prime question of control of water and
water rights was originally part of the multilateral talks but was recently moved to the bilateral talks. In the
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Israeli-Jordanian bilateral talks, a subcommittee on «Water, Energy, and Environment» was formed, and a
subcommittee on «Land and Water» has been formed for the Israeli-Palestinian talks.
There are five separate working groups in the multilateral talks: Refugees, Anns Control and Regional
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Security, Economic Development, Environment, and Water. A steering committee oversees the work of
these groups and provides links with the ongoing bilateral talks. In the water talks of the multilaterals,
practical questions of regional cooperation are under discussion with all interested governmental parties.
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These questions include how to alleviate short-term and long-term water shortages, how to increase overall
water supplies, and what institutions could enhance data sharing, conflict resolution, and river basin
management. Four sets of multilateral water negotiations have already been held in Vienna (May 1992),
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Washington, D.C. (September 1992), Geneva (April 1993), and Beijing (October 1993). The next set is
being held this month in Oman. The water track of the multilaterals is the only one to have successfully
produced a signed agreement: to cooperate on a series of formal and informal «activities» around supply
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questions, data sharing, and institution building. These activities began in summer 1993 and are continuing.