Water Scarcity, Security and democracy: a mediterranean moSaic © 2014 by Global Water Partnership Mediterranean, Cornell University and the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future. All rights reserved. Published 2014. Printed in Athens, Greece, and Ithaca, NY. ISBN 978-1-4951-1550-9 The opinions expressed in the articles in this book are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Global Water Partnership Mediterranean or Cornell University’s David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future. Layout and cover design: Ghazal Lababidi Water Scarcity, Security and democracy: a mediterranean moSaic EditEd by FrancEsca dE châtEl, Gail holst-WarhaFt and tammo stEEnhuis TABLE OF CONTENTS foreWord 6 introduction 8 i. tHe neW culture of Water 16 1. Glimpses of a New Water Civilization 18 2. Water Archives, a History of Sources: The Example of the Hérault in France’s Langueoc-Roussillon Region 32 3. Meander(ing) Multiplicity 36 4. A Spanish Water Scenario 46 5. Transboundary Management of the Hebron/Besor Watershed in Israel and the Palestinian Authority 52 6. The Drin Coordinated Action Towards an Integrated Transboundary Water Resources Management 62 7. The Times They Are A-Changin’: Water Activism and Changing Public Policy 72 8. Water Preservation Perspectives as Primary Biopolicy Targets 82 ii. coping WitH SCARCITY 84 9. Leaving the Land: The Impact of Long-term Water Mismanagement in Syria 86 10. Desert Aquifers and the Mediterranean Sea: Water Scarcity, Security, and Migration 98 11. The Preservation of Foggaras in Algeria’s Adrar Province 108 12. The Need for a Paradigm Change: Agriculture in the Water-Scarce MENA Region 114 13. Integrated Development of Wadi Systems in Lebanon 124 14. Turning Off the Palestinian Taps: Israel’s Predominance over the Allocation and Management of Palestinian Water Resources 132 15. Changes in Climate and Landscape in the Blue Nile Basin: What it Means Downstream 144 16. Coming Changes in Global Water Policy 150 iii. crete: tHe moSaic approach 152 Introduction 154 17. Tourism and Agriculture in Crete: Competing Claims on Water Resources and Potential Solutions 155 18. A Law Student’s Year in Mediterranean Waters 166 19. The Restoration of Ancient Water Cisterns 171 20. Water, Life, and Civilization in Crete and the Mediterranean 174 foreword The Mediterranean and its Water: The Mosaic We Live In It is often said that the Mediterranean is a melting pot. The process of melting different raw materials results in the creation of a homogeneous fluid. This is not the case in our region. The Mediterranean is a fine mosaic of solid pieces of immense durability: a mosaic of peoples with deep roots, various ethnic and historical backgrounds, and memories imprinted in their DNA; a mosaic of civilizations, religions, ideologies, and philosophies. As in all mosaics, some pieces are damaged or lost and others are replaced by new ones but, despite changes, the centuries-old outline patterns still remain surprisingly visible. To some extent, this can be explained by the impact of the unique Mediterranean landscape and natural environment on societies and individuals. Water is, perhaps, the most vital of all natural resources in the region, shaping landscapes and, to a large extent, determining the level of development. The Mediterranean is among the most arid regions in the world. Hosting more than 50 percent of the world’s ‘water poor’ population, or around 180 million of the region’s 460 million inhabitants, the Mediterranean holds only 3 percent of the world’s freshwater resources. To meet water scarcity problems, Mediterranean peoples have throughout history transformed this challenge into a driver for innovation and social organization. Hopefully their capacity for adaptation and their creative imagination will allow them to address the growing challenges, also in the future. The Mediterranean is endowed with natural beauty, rich biodiversity, and fertility. It hosts a fast-growing and young (on the southern and eastern shores) population, which has over recent decades adopted unsustainable consumption patterns. The region experiences high anthropogenic pressures from rapid urbanization, tourism, industrial and agricultural development among others, while climate variability and change, in addition to desertification, pollution and loss of biodiversity, form growing threats. Furthermore, the Mediterranean region as a whole currently faces a deep socio-political and economic crisis. Mediterranean societies strive to ensure sustained economic growth, human security and political stability. In order for this to succeed, the integrated management of water, energy, food and environment has to become a priority issue for governments, societies and business. Around 90 percent of the water resources in the Balkans are transboundary in nature, while in the Middle East and North Africa more than 70 percent of water resources lie in shared basins. This adds to the complexity of the situation. The evolution of political realities shapes the way these vital resources are managed. In the Balkans, where the Cold War and armed conflict sparked tensions over water sharing in the twentieth century, transboundary cooperation has vastly improved in the past 15 years as exemplified in the Sava Basin (shared between Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro) and, increasingly, in the Drin Basin (shared between Greece, Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, and Montenegro). In North Africa, where the majority of shared water resources are underground, countries are searching for more steady modes of cooperation over the North Western Sahara Aquifer and the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer. In the Eastern Mediterranean, milestone political agreements have resulted in joint efforts to improve water management, though problems in their subsequent implementation now threaten livelihoods and economic activity. Given the importance of the coastal area for developmental activities in the region, a joint approach to coastal and river basin management from ridge to reef is a defined and urgent need. Yet the scale of today’s water security challenge is often underestimated until a crisis hits. The region offers plenty of such examples related to droughts, floods, pollution, waterborne disease, armed conflict and resulting migration... Though the scale and complexity of this multidimensional challenge are huge, solutions are within reach. Good governance is essential in order to facilitate coordinated efforts and initiatives. Effective participatory policy design, implementation, and monitoring can shape a better future for the region. Accessible information, affordable technologies and innovation, socially sensitive investments, tailor- made and pro-poor fiscal instruments and enforced capacities are just some of the tools needed to make real the shift from policy to action. Sustainable solutions to current water challenges will be achieved only by understanding the cultural and practical significance of water in our everyday life, including its emotional, intellectual and moral aspects. This book is a mosaic on its own. It tells stories, shares ideas, poses questions, and offers answers. It travels through the region and explores its interrelated themes, makes deep-dive stops, connecting the shores, the water and the people. Hopefully, it will become a source of reference and inspiration to better understand some of the makes and breaks of water-related sociopolitical balances that extend beyond water technicalities, but have a sound scientific background. Sincere thanks and appreciation to Prof. Gail (Electra) Holst-Warhaft and Prof. Tammo Steenhuis of Cornell University and Dr. Francesca de Châtel for their cooperation, trust, and initiative. Sustainable solutions to current water challenges will be achieved only by understanding the cultural and practical significance of water in our everyday life, including its emotional, intellectual and moral aspects. Education, formal and informal, plays an important role in creating the new water culture and enabling the move from simple everyday use to strategic developmental decisions that will allow us to wisely use the most valuable gift of life. prof. michael Scoullos Chairman, Global Water Partnership-Mediterranean INTRODUCTION 11 Introduction Gail Holst-Warhaft Professor, Cornell University, Ithaca, U.S.A. Take water with you; The future holds a lot of drought. Mihalis Katsaros figure 1 One of the few surviving olive groves on the island of Aegina, Greece, after farmers there replaced their ancient olive and almond trees with higer-revenue but water-thirsty pistachio trees. This has resulted in rapid groundwater depletion and salinization. Photo: Francesca de Châtel, 2013. It is easy to despair about water. The impetus for this volume is a common concern about the water crisis facing countries around the Mediterranean, the Middle East and beyond. We recognize there are serious problems of scarcity and pollution, especially in the south and east of the region. We also know that increasing population and global climate change suggest that the problem will steadily increase unless something is done. The environmental dimension is often ignored in discussions of the current political and social crises in the region. In fact the environmental and political crises are intimately linked, as the chapters in this volume on Syria and the Sahel make plain (Ch. 9 and 10). In technically advanced or oil-rich countries like Israel and Saudi