Wazzani Spring : assessment of the present international water conflict between Lebanon and Israel - seen within an Arab-Israeli context.

Abstract

The situation in the Middle East has over the last centuries received much attention from the international community. There is a long history of disputes over natural resources like oil and land in the Middle East, and on some occasions these disputes have resulted in warfare among neighboring states. Even though water has always been a source of conflict in the region, it’s only in the recent years that more focus has been placed on the scarce fresh water resources in the region, and the management of them. In the arid Middle East region water is scarce both in terms of the quantity and quality. This constitutes a great challenge for the countries in the region, because water is probably the most fundamental natural resource for humans and the societies in which they live. The fundamental role that water resources play in a society is also the cause of tension between different users of the same water resources. This is also the case with the Jordan River Basin, which have five riparian states struggling over the same water resources. Due to the political situation among the riparians to the basin, this area is probably one of the most disputed and tense river basins in the world. Unless the riparian states cooperate and negotiate on how to manage their common resources in the best way possible – overt conflict may occur. In the case of the Wazzani Spring and the Wazzani/Hasbani River system, these water resources, along with Dan and Banias Rivers, provide a substantial contribution to the Jordan River, and they constitute the tributaries of the Upper Jordan River, which eventually empties into the Sea of Galilee, Israel’s main fresh water reserve. It is within this context that the Wazzani Spring conflict evolved after the Israelis withdrew there troops from South Lebanon, and thus giving up their control over the water resources of Wazzani Spring. In addition to the control and utilization of water recourses in the Middle East, the water also has a more strategic and complex role, since the water resources are inseparable linked to socio-economic development, as well as to national security, politics and ideology. The thesis does not go into a traditional quantitative analysis that deals with the hydrological data alone, but rather focus on carrying out a comprehensive assessment and qualitative analysis of the above mentioned data. Relevant data have been collected, classified, described, assessed and analyzed. This thesis is probably the first in its kind regarding the Wazzani Spring water resource conflict.