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作者：潔西卡•麥卡琳
巴勒斯坦地區的水資源充足，該怎麼分配？
「巴勒斯坦水文機構」的主任艾曼•拉比（Ayman Rabi）指出，如果現在的用水狀況已經吃緊了，那麼將來的狀況只會更加不堪。他說：「目前的用水問題中，有效分配比有效使用的問題更嚴重。目前的水量足夠讓所有的以色列人和巴勒斯坦人使用，只需要公平的分配就可以了。而問題是到2025年時，人口會倍增；如果現在的用水模式沒有改變，屆時水一定不夠用。」
從「集體農場」著手節水
以色列也許已經注意到了這個問題，已經就節約用水做了些嘗試。以色列有53%的飲用水用在農業灌溉上。1995年，農業部的委員會建議取消對於農業單位的配額與補助，這其中的想法是，如果農人必須以市場價格買水，他們就會更有效地用水。不過水資源委員馬上駁回了這項提議。
以色列在技術上也曾處於領先的地位。在1960年代，以色列發展出了滴漏式灌溉系統（drip irrigation system），它能夠有效地將水運送到植物根部，大量減少作物生長所需要的灌溉用水，這項技術在當時是舉世矚目。但不幸的，以色列在1967年取得佔領區的水權之後，這方面的研究就減緩了。
另一方面，許多巴勒斯坦人，特別是那些住家無法接上到自來水管線網路的民眾，他們在沒有選擇餘地的情況下，採取了有效用水的生活型態。以色列人可以學習這些巴勒斯坦人，且不致於使生活發生太大的變化，例如以屋頂收集雨水並且儲存在水塔中的情況已經越來越普遍，這種方式的儲水量足夠提供一個家庭半年的用水。許多巴勒斯坦民眾已經開始利用土壤就地處理廢水並回收使用。他們建造三個疊在一起的水池，在每個水池之間有沙土，烹調和洗滌用的廢水在流經各水池時會被沙土過濾，最後從第三個水池流出的水已經乾淨到可供灌溉。
數千年來，耶利哥的泉水一直供人飲用。
目前實際的解決方案可能都有，但最終問題還是需要從政治上去解決，可是這方面至今毫無進展。這無須驚訝，把兩方帶上談判桌都有困難了，更別提要他們討論如何管理共享的水資源。
讓這情況更複雜的還有另一個問題，那就是有些以色列和巴勒斯坦所共享的水資源－例如約旦河－也必須與其他鄰國共享。雅幕-約旦河水域提供了水源給包括以色列、巴勒斯坦、約旦、敘利亞和黎巴嫩等國家。以色列和約旦在1994年在簽署和平協議之後，，便嘗試一起規劃約旦河的水資源，這項合作令人欽佩。但是以色列和敘利亞則距離彼此合作的時機還很遙遠。事實上，為了以色列佔領水源豐富的格蘭高地這件事，這兩國還處於戰爭狀態。在此同時，人口成長、發展的壓力與不當的用水，使得這五國的水資源越來越少、受到的污染也越來越多。
以色列建國的中心主義很簡單：世界上任何地方的猶太人都可以移居到這個國家來。目前以色列有6百萬人居住在本國和佔領區中，但是估計世界上其他地方1,200萬到1,400萬人。如果水量供少於求，而且水變得越來越不足，那不論以色列是否願意，都會發現土地的極限將限制移民的數量。如果從政者繼續忽視水資源問題，那麼他們將會發現和平一樣難以到來。
潔西卡•麥卡琳是一位自由記者，她關注的焦點是環境與政治議題的交互作用，尤其對於中東的環境問題特別感興趣。她為許多英國與歐洲的媒體撰稿，包括倫敦的《衛報》（Guardian）、《泰晤士報》（Times）與《金融時報》（Financial Times)。
【文章連載】
■血與水I 血與水II
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全文與圖片詳見： http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/main
dish/mccallin030502.asp
版權歸屬 Earth Day Network，環境資訊協會(龐中培 譯，李欣哲 審校)
中英對照全文：http://e-info.org.tw/issue/water/2002/
wa02042901.htm
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by Jessica McCallin，05 Mar 2002
Milk and Honey on the Other Side?
If the present water situation is tense, the future one is simply untenable, according to Ayman Rabi, director of the Palestinian Hydrology Group. "At the moment, the water problem is one of efficient management above efficient use," Rabi says. "There is enough for the current populations of Israel and Palestine, it just needs to be distributed fairly. The problem is that these populations are projected to double by 2025. There will, quite simply, not be enough water to sustain this population if today's consumption pattern remains unchanged."
Down on the kibbutz.
Perhaps mindful of that, the Israelis have made some attempts to address water consumption. Some 53 percent of drinking-quality water in Israel is currently used for agriculture. In 1995, a Ministry of Agriculture commission recommended cancelling allocations and subsidies to the agriculture sector, suggesting that if farmers bought water at market prices, they would use it more efficiently. The Water Commissioner's office, however, rejected this idea outright.
Israel has also been at the cutting edge of some technological advances. In the 1960s, it gained worldwide admiration by developing a drip irrigation system, which efficiently delivers water to the root of the plant, dramatically reducing the amount of water needed to grow crops. Unfortunately, much of this technological research slowed down after Israel gained control of the water in the occupied territories during the 1967 war.
Meanwhile, lacking any option, many Palestinians -- especially those not connected to the water network -- have adopted water-efficient lifestyles, which Israelis could copy without significantly changing their lives. Rainwater harvesting, whereby water is collected on roofs and stored in cisterns, is becoming more and more widespread, and usually allows a family to be water self-sufficient for half the year. And many Palestinian villagers have started treating and recycling water on site, using simple earth filters. Three ponds are built on top of each other. Water that has been used for cooking and cleaning is passed through them and cleaned by the earth between the ponds. By the time it reaches the third pond, it is clean enough for agricultural use.
This Jericho spring has served as a source of drinking water for thousands of years.
But although practical solutions may be available, the problems, ultimately, require political management -- and nothing is being done at the political level. This is hardly surprising as the two sides can barely bring themselves to talk to each other, let alone decide on how to manage their joint water resources.
Further complicating the matter is the fact some of the water resources that the Israeli and Palestinians share, such as the Jordan River, must also be shared with neighbouring countries. The Yarmouk-Jordan River basin serves Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Israel and Jordan have made admirable attempts to jointly manage the Jordan River since signing a peace agreement in 1994. But Israel and Syria, in particular, are a long way from finding ways to cooperate. Indeed, the two countries are still formally at war over Israel's occupation of the water-rich Golan Heights. Meanwhile, population growth and developmental pressures coupled with inefficient use in all five countries continue to deplete and pollute the water.
Israel is founded on a simple, central tenet: that any Jew, anywhere in the world, can immigrate and settle in the nation. Six million people currently live in Israel and the occupied territories, but there are an estimated 12 to 14 million Jews worldwide. Israelis may find that the land places caps on immigration levels whether they like it or not, if sustainable water consumption is not achieved and water becomes increasingly scarce. And if politicians continue to ignore the water issue, they may find that peace is equally hard to come by.
Jessica McCallin is a freelance journalist focusing on the interplay between environmental and economic issues, with a particular interest in environmental issues in the Middle East. She has written for a variety of U.K. and European environmental magazines, including the London Guardian, London Times, and Financial Times.
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/main
dish/mccallin030502.asp
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