The River Jordan, 2000

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The Jordan is a river that flows for three hundred and sixty kilometres, from Mount Hermon in Lebanon down into the Dead Sea. Its valley is the lowest in the world, as it runs into the Dead Sea at an altitude of 421 metres below sea level. This is why the Arabs call it Nahr al-Urdun: “the descending.” Jordan and the Golan Heights border the river to the east, while the West Bank and Israel lie on its opposite side. In Hebrew, it is known as Nehar haYarden: the “River of Judgement.” Indeed, its waters were of great significance to the prophets of the Tanakh, also known as the Old Testament. It was one of the borders of the Promised Land to which Moses led the Israelites; in the synoptic gospels, Jesus Christ was baptised by John in the waters of the Jordan. As such, the river has become a place of pilgrimage for Christians.

The Jordan borders two highly contested regions: the Golan Heights and the West Bank, both occupied by Israel since 1967. The issue of access to water from the Jordan River basin is a key factor in the regional conflict there, though water tends to play second fiddle to other, more pressing crises. Key amongst these is the relationship between Israel and its Arab neighbours. Yet control over water resources is a highly sensitive issue in the modern age as a result of rising demand, leading governments to seek new sources of water supply, such as the groundwater running beneath the West Bank. The Jordan’s natural discharge is only 500 million m³ as it leaves the Sea of Galilee, and 1400 million m³ at its river mouth on the Dead Sea. But in reality, as a result of human siphoning of river water, this discharge is reduced to 70 million m³ at the Sea of Galilee and 160 million at the Dead Sea. So who is taking all this water?

Jordan uses 800 million m³ per year, half of which is sourced from fossil groundwater or renewable sources. The country has created infrastructure to access these resources: pumps to bring groundwater to the surface, and dams on the Zarqa and other small tributaries to the Jordan. The most substantial development project is the King Abdullah Canal, which runs parallel to the Jordan. It was first dug in 1959, starting at the Yarmouk river, and was gradually extended all the way to the Dead Sea in 1987. It provides irrigation for farmlands, and water for the city of Aman. In Israel, annual water removal from the Jordan amounts to 1900-2000 million m³, exceeding the level of naturally available resources by around 8-14%. In order to increase their access to water from the Jordan, the Israelis built the National Water Carrier, channelling water from the Sea of Galilee right across the country to irrigate the Negev desert. Israel also exploits much of the groundwater that runs beneath the West Bank, which has sparked anger among Arab authorities. But who is making war, and who is seeking it?

Syria find itself with a different problem: to the east, the country falls within the Euphrates river basin, while its western regions lie in the Jordan basin. Of the two rivers, Syria takes more water from the Euphrates; however, its use of the Jordan’s tributaries is considerable. The Yarmouk is one of the Jordan’s main tributaries, and many dams have been built in its drainage basin. Elsewhere, a major source of tension with Israel is the issue of the Golan Heights, a Syrian territory annexed by the Jewish state in the wake of the Six-Day War in 1967. This region is a key source of water, with various small rivers and streams flowing into the Sea of Galilee. 15-20% of Israel’s water comes from the Golan region. As such, Syria claims ownership of the entirety of Golan’s water, based on the doctrine of absolute sovereignty over a territory. Israel, meanwhile, claims the right to use this water, and points out that it would be economically impossible for the country to give it up.

We are in the 21st century; growing populations need water, yet even today wars are still being declared.

Alan Alfredo Geday