Extended Abstract

Management of Scarce Water Resources and Development of Appropriate Technologies for Sustainable Water Supply with Adequate Quality
Eilon M. Adar Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research Department of Environmental Hydrology & Microbiology Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Sede Boqer Campus, 84990, Israel Preface The impact of the accelerating global warming on the natural and human environments is forecasted with severe impact on drylands, already facing water shortage and diminishing of the scarce water resources. It is predicted that in most of the drylands regions the precipitation systems will change, resulting severe depletion in existing water resources. Interference with long term water balance in nature due to massive water abstraction, mainly in arid and semi-arid zones, raised the doubt whether the current principles of Sustainable Development of existing (and future) water resources will be able to avert the forthcoming water related catastrophes associated with water scarcity in arid regions, especially in developing societies. The accelerating socio-economic crises in the developing world and the still looming negative impacts of the Global Climate Change on the already thirsty and hungry societies, strengthened the conclusion that a new policy of water resources development has to be considered, namely to ensure progress toward a safer and sustainable water supply, while averting irreversible environmental catastrophes. In Israel, a new policy of Progressive Water Development rather than Sustainable Water Development has long been applied. Progressive Water Development entails, in the first place, profound and sweeping changes in the attitude of the development approach toward natural environmental resources in the arid and semi arid zones. These changes suggest utilizing the up-till-now, un-developed natural water resources without being bind to the common environmental definition of sustainability. When it comes to natural resources, Progressive Development aims at the comprehensive development of soil and water resources including one-time water reserves and marginal land resources. Such projects may involve deep drilling and groundwater abstraction, modern irrigation and high-tech agricultural methods. Water development projects should assess the economic and environmental feasibility and plan ahead for the diversion of water from regions of excessive water resources to regions of needs. As most of the fertile land in humid regions has been already heavily cultivated (in many regions even over exploited), and local water resources have been entirely exploited, the next stage is to come up with additional "new" water for planting new land mostly in arid terrains, in the first place to produce food, and also to sequester atmospheric carbon and thus help mitigating global warming. In Israel, new water includes the utilization of treated effluents, desalination of salinebrackish groundwater and seawater desalination. In a nutshell Progressive

Development aims to guarantee the survival and well-being of future generations of the developing world in the arid and semiarid zones, by giving priority to investment in advanced planning and development of new water resources, step by step while observing and assessing the current and possible future impact on nature and the environment. Almost 100 years of intensive, yet successful development of the agriculture industry in the drylands of Israel, were associated with a simultaneous development of the most sophisticated water resources and water-related agriculture technologies. In some cases, water exploitation lead to (temporary?) environmental stress. In most cases, however, the massive interference with the long term natural water balance did not reveal any substantial negative impact on Mother Nature, yet it is under continuous investigation for its potential negative impact on the environment. The comprehensive progressive development of integrated water resources such as onetime groundwater reservoirs, marginal aquifers, treated effluents, desalinated sea water and brackish groundwater provided Israel with a unique sustainable water supply systems. It serves as the most firm pillar of the Israeli economy and foundation for reclaiming substantial area of desert basins turning it to famous productive land. Lecture items Shortages of water of various qualities for different end users already exist in the Mediterranean countries. The situation will worsen in the eastern Mediterranean in the very near future, due to an anticipated massive increase in population as well as elevated living standards that will increase the demand for additional water for domestic use and food production. Substantial amount of water has been diverted from the Jordan River basin by the states of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for intensive irrigation with dramatic environmental damage to the lower Jordan River and the Dead Sea basins. All major water resources in the Middle East (rivers and groundwater reservoirs) are cross-borders (transboundary) water resources. The riparian (downstream) users depend on the upper basin activities for both availability of adequate quantities and quality of water. The only fresh water reservoir that can be used as an operational reservoir buffering from winter/summer and wet/dry year fluctuations is the Sea of Galilee. Therefore the region lacks operational reservoirs, with all the ensuing consequences. The combined impact of increase in water demand, deterioration in water quality, negligible volume for operational water reservoirs, and the issues related to management of transboundary water resources are illuminated, elaborated, and discussed in details. Surface water resources in the Middle East region of the eastern Mediterranean (mainly the Jordan River basin) are fully exploited and the water quality is deteriorating dramatically over time. Most of the other (smaller rivers) are already heavily contaminated. Groundwater is the best long-term storage reservoirs believed to be better protected from negative anthropogenic impacts.

Groundwater resources in the eastern Mediterranean are fully developed and prone to salinization and contamination and as a result, groundwater quality is declining as water abstraction continues. The massive development of advanced agricultural industry in Mediterranean countries, including the Middle East, endangers the two major natural resources, soil and water. Most of the coastal aquifers are already impacted by anthropogenic activities including contaminants such as pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers migrating across the vadose zone (soil column) into groundwater. The presentation emphasizes the hydrological complexity in the eastern Mediterranean countries due to water shortage, massive groundwater exploitation, urbanization, agriculture and industrial impact on water availability and quality associated with the transboundary water resources, all which lead to novel water-agro tech industries.

What should be done to meet the increasing demand for additional water with better quality and to secure water supply for future generations? Increasing water use efficiency: Drip and pulse irrigation methods for irrigating the plants rather than the soil root zone. Responsive irrigation coordinated with potential and active transpiration. Successive utilization of the same water by several end-users. However, we shall not be able to meet the increasing demand for water (and food) by just improving water use efficiency, as one cannot sustain water and food supply with a diminishing supply of water and a continuous growing population. Implementing novel water innovations and technologies: Adaptation of new species and cultivation methods to meet the local soil conditions and type of existing water quality; developing salt resisting shoots and plant species that can tolerate relatively wide range of water quality during the growing season under variable micro-climate conditions. Development of new end users (customers) for marginal water quality: fish ponds and algae production plant relying on saline groundwater and solar energy in the Negev desert. Developing novel technologies for treatment of marginal water such as effluents, rivers, and contaminated and/or salty groundwater. Introducing New Water Resources: treating effluents, brackish groundwater desalination and seawater desalination.

The necessity of finding additional substantial amount of "New Water" intertwined with the need for alternative energy as one cannot be solved without the other! Adopting the Holistic Integrated Approach to avoid environmental catastrophe. Examples from Israel agro-water arena show that scarce water resources may not serve as a limiting factor on the local economy. It can be achieved by acting swiftly and decisively at every level of the decision-making processes by looking for

scientific novelties to provide additional water resources in terms of quantity and quality.