Challenges to water cooperation in the lower Jordan River Basin

Introduction In the semi-arid to arid climatic conditions of the Middle East, water resources management is a contentious issue between parties sharing the same water resources. At the same time, solving water problems has been identified as a common interest to Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians. In response to this, in 1992 a Multilateral Working Group on Water Resources was established as part of a multilateral track aimed at enhancing the Middle East peace process. Since then, governmental and non-governmental institutions have started several bilateral and regional projects to promote water cooperation in the region. The implementation of water-related projects involving Palestinians, Israelis and Jordanians was seen as a hopeful sign for broader peace-building efforts and related projects have received substantial funding from the international donor community. And yet water projects face several barriers to cooperation, and today, almost 17 years after the peace process began, substantial cooperation in water resources management still remains limited. This chapter aims to identify and analyse existing barriers to transboundary cooperation in water resources management in the lower Jordan Basin by analysing three initiatives that aim to promote water cooperation at different levels of society. The chapter first provides a brief introduction, and in Section 32.2 gives the main results of diverse research on the links between water and conflict. Section 32.3 gives an overview of the hydrological setting in the Jordan Basin and of water resources management by its riparians.