The Map of Water Resources

The Map of Water Resources

Map #3

The ground water reservoir in Judea and Samaria, called the Mountain Aquifer, is the State of Israel’s largest and most important water reservoir. Some 600 million cubic meters of water are produced from it in an average year, about a third of the State of Israel’s national water consumption. This water is of the highest quality and supplies the domestic needs of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Beer Sheva, and most of the cities in the center of the country; it is also used for irrigation of large agricultural areas along the coastal plain, the piedmont, the Beer Sheva valley, the Jezreel Valley, and the Jordan Valley. Natural water sources must be preserved even in an era of desalination, because the value of water is not determined only by the cost of its production; rather, it has value as a national natural resource. Therefore, Israeli governments have declared that water is a strategic resource for Israel even in an era of peace.

After the IDF’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, some 500 new wells were drilled there, in violation of the agreement reached with the PA, and today many attempts to drill wells are being made in the Jenin area. The vital need to prevent wildcat drilling by Palestinians and the need to ensure the supply of good quality water in the future requires exclusive Israeli control of the vital pumping areas. A mapping of the pumping potential in Judea and Samaria is presented in the map of ground water reservoirs (Map #3). The map defines three areas: A. Areas in which water cannot be pumped; these areas are located on the top of the geological domes in Hebron and Ramallah to Mt. Gilboa. B. Areas of low pumping potential, in which the thickness of the saturated subterranean stratum is no greater than 200 meters, and in which water can be pumped at low yields of up to a few tens of cubic meters per hour. These areas are marked on the map in light blue and are located around the areas of the first type. C. Areas of high pumping potential, in which the thickness of the saturated stratum is between 200 and 600 meters, and in which water may be pumped at yields of thousands of cubic meters per hour. These areas are marked on the map in blue.

Accordingly, the Mountain Aquifer is divided into three subareas marked on the map by the numbers 1-3, representing different levels of strategic importance, as follows:

Area no. 1: the western basin of the Mountain Aquifer, called the Yarkon-Tanninim Aquifer. This basin today supplies an average of 340 million cubic meters per year, largely for the domestic use of 2.5 million civilians living in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and the cities in the center of the country (the Palestinians today pump an additional 20 million cubic meters a year). This basin is of prime importance and the Palestinians cannot be allowed any further drillings in it. The boundaries of this basin have thus been marked on the map of defense interests (Map #2) with blue dots. Special arrangements will have to be made in the cities of Qalqilia and Tulkarem, which are located in this area, in order to prevent further drilling there. This area largely overlaps the security band, and contains a large proportion of the Israeli settlement blocs in western Samaria and Benjamin.

Area no. 2: The northern basin is called the Nablus-Gilboa Aquifer. This basin today supplies an average of 115 million cubic meters a year, largely for agricultural irrigation in the kibbutzim and moshavim in the northern valleys (the Palestinians pump an additional 25 million cubic meters a year). Demographically, this area is one of dense Palestinian settlement (especially in Nablus and Jenin), and Israel will not be able to control it exclusively. However, regulations for the ongoing use of the aquifer will have to be agreed upon by both sides.

Area no. 3: The area in which water may be pumped from the eastern basin. This aquifer today supplies abut 40 million cubic meters to the Israeli agricultural settlements in the Jordan Valley (the Palestinians pump an additional 60 million cubic meters a year). This aquifer is of lesser importance because it supplies water largely to the Palestinians, and it supplies Israel little water (primarily for agricultural purposes). Nevertheless, regulations for its use will have to be agreed upon here as well.

In summary, the Yarkon-Tanninim Aquifer (area no.1) has strategic importance, and Israel must maintain exclusive control over its potential pumping areas; in the other basins (2 and 3), as well as in the cities of Qalqilia and Tulkarem, other arrangements can be determined for the supply of water in the future.