Water allocation, climate change, and sustainable peace - The Israeli proposal

Israeli-Palestinian joint water management strategies fail to account for increased water demand caused by increasing populations and potential decreases in water availability due to climate change. This study examines the impacts of population growth and climate change on the water supplies of Israelis and Palestinians under "business-as-usual" conditions as well as under the Israeli-proposed water resources division discussed in meetings parallel to those at Camp David in 2000. The analysis establishes renewable water resources by source in Israel/Palestine and presents the current sectoral trends in water consumption. From this baseline, eight scenarios are developed that describe conditions in 2000 and 2025. Several indicators are used to measure the positive and negative effects of these conditions. The indicators show that population growth and climate change will negate many of the benefits of the water resources division proposed in 2000. Furthermore, the indicators reveal extreme water resources stress among Palestinians as well as potential environmental degradation as climate change depletes natural water supplies.