Abstract
Israel has succeeded in advancing irrigated agriculture on a wide scale on arid and semiarid lands, with an intensive use of technology and capital, and a firm state-led irrigation policy. This chapter describes the evolution of the Israeli irrigation sector since the British Mandate period, distinguishing four distinct eras linked to contrasting political and technological frameworks. It also explores the changes in the institutional framework of the irrigation sector (from the local community level to the state structure). The chapter underscores the critical role of technology in Israeli irrigation, most particularly in the development of micro-irrigation and monitoring systems, and the shift towards desalination and wastewater use for irrigation. Finally, it identifies the major challenges to be overcome, considering water quantity and quality problems, and the impact of climate change, possibly compounded by tensions with neighboring countries.
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- 1.
In discussing Israel in this chapter, we refer only to the area within the pre-1967 Armistice Line and the Golan Heights. We do not discuss the West Bank and Gaza, though we refer to the water relations between the West Bank and Israel wherever necessary to understand the Israeli water situation.
- 2.
The Jordan River has five riparians: Israel, Lebanon , Jordan, Syria and the Palestinian Authority.
- 3.
The outlet of the Sea of Galilee, also called Lake Kinneret or Lake Tiberias, was dammed as a side-product of the hydroelectricity project at the confluence of the Jordan and Yarmouk rivers, built in 1931.
- 4.
The Peel Commission was a Royal Commission of Inquiry established by the UK Government to investigate the causes of unrest in Palestine under the British mandate, following the 6-month-long Arab general strike and to recommend future measure.
- 5.
Over 700,000 immigrants arrived between 1949 and 1952, severely stressing the country’s meagre resources in the early Fifties (Hacohen 1994).
- 6.
From a water perspective this shift implies that Israel increasingly imports ‘virtual water’, the water embedded in food, thereby alleviating much of its water scarcity (Gilmont 2014).
- 7.
Following the rise of the Likud to power in 1977, the geo-political concerns shifted to the Occupied West Bank, where most Jewish settlements are not based on agriculture.
- 8.
- 9.
Tahal was privatized in 1996, as part of the neo-liberalization of the Israeli economy.
- 10.
The Yarkon River, originating north-east of Tel-Aviv, was captured at the source in 1955 and diverted to the western Negev through the Yarkon-Negev pipeline, which was later incorporated into the NWC.
- 11.
In 1990 a massive immigration wave from the ex-soviet Union began. As a result of the immigration wave and the high birth rates Israel’s population grew from less than 5 million in 1989 to 8.6 million at the end of 2016, a rate of growth unparalleled in any developed country.
- 12.
Subsidizing wastewater fits well with the government policy in the field of positive externalities. Using treated wastewater is a solution that prevents the disposal of contaminated wastewater into streams and into the Mediterranean. Furthermore, the use of treated wastewater increases the available water sources and therefore reduces the need for desalination of sea water and the negative externalities associated with them.
- 13.
The current obligations under the two treaties amounts to about 100 Mm3, out of the 1200 Mm3 considered safe long-term withdrawals (taking into account climate change projections). However, in the unratified Israeli 2010 draft masterplan the quantity reserved is 143 Mm3, as it takes into consideration informal obligations and a realization of the amounting needs of both Jordan and the Palestinians.
- 14.
Agriculture in the southern Negev Desert (mainly the Arava Valley) requires irrigation all year round.
- 15.
Most notable among them were the Arlosoroff Commission of 1997, and the Magen Commission in 2001.
- 16.
These are areas which are deemed vulnerable according geo-hydrological or health criteria.
- 17.
For a timeline of Netafim’s history and further drip irrigation innovations of the company see www.netafimlegacy.com/timeline.
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Lavee, D., Feitelson, E., Joseph-Ezra, H. (2019). Israel. In: Molle, F., Sanchis-Ibor, C., Avellà-Reus, L. (eds) Irrigation in the Mediterranean. Global Issues in Water Policy, vol 22. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03698-0_8
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