The Emergence of Desalination Technologies as a Means of

Augmenting Water Supply and Ameliorating Conflict in the

Middle East

Clive Lipchin, PhD and Shmuel Brenner, PhDArava Institute for Environmental Studies

www.arava.org

Water Stress Worldwide: 1995-2025

Source: UNEP, GRID, Arendal, Oswald

SOURCES OF WATER3 Major Sources:

Jordan River System / Kinneret

Mountain Aquifer

Coastal Aquifer

Chronic Water ScarcityChronic Water ScarcityFor Reference:

<1000 m3/cap/yr - Water Poor

<500 m3/cap/yr - Chronic Water Scarcity

U.S. => 9,710 m3/cap/yr

World average 7,000 m3/cap/yr

Israel => 270-300 m3/cap/yr (340 w/sewage)

Jordan => 230 m3/cap/yr (245 w/sewage)

Palestinians => 95 m3/cap/yr

Lebanon => 1,300 m3/cap/yr

ME Water Resources – Water Crisis

Water level of the mountain aquifer

Water Supply and Demand in the Middle East (Israel, PA, Jordan)

Data Source: Tahal

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

2000 2010 2040

Year

mcm

/yea

r

Supply

Demand

Water Culture in the ME

• Israel– Western/Zionist Attitudes– Technological Optimism– Hegemony of Agriculture (national level)– Water as a commodity (public ownership,

privatization)– Despite scarcity, little public input in decision

making

WATER MANAGEMENT WATER MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKFRAMEWORK• All Water is Property of the State

• National Water Commission (NWC) Allocates Water to Users

• NWC Has Responsibility to Allocate “in the Public’s Interest”

Potable water consumption by purpose in percentages (Source: Israel Central Bureau

of Statistics, 2004)

1983 1993 2003

Agriculture 71 64 56

Domestic 23 29 38

Industry 6 7 6

Total 100 100 100

Inherent Water Problems

• Global climate change

• Increasing standard of living = Rising demand

• Commitments to the neighbors

• Deterioration of water quality

• Overexploitation of surface and ground waters

• Pricing

The Promise of Desalination

Seawater/brackish water Drinking water

Office of the Governor of Texas

SAN ANTONIO -Gov. Rick Perry today called for the construction of the state's first large-scale ocean water desalination plant as one step toward securing an abundant water supply to meet Texas' future needs………

Press Release -April 29, 2002

Time-Series of Global Desalination Capacity, January 2005The bars show annual new installed capacity, and the line shows cumulative installed capacity.

Source: Cooley, H. et. al. (2006) Desalination with a Grain of Salt: A California Perspective. Pacific Institute

Countries with More Than 1% of Global Desalination Capacity, January 2005

Source: Cooley, H. et. al. (2006) Desalination with a Grain of Salt: A California Perspective. Pacific Institute

• Efficient technology– MSF/RO

• Good quality product– Drinking water

• The price is right– $0.50/cubic meter

• But… desalination is an industrial process

The Promise of Desalination

Seawater desalination capacity in cbm/day in the Mediterranean

basin

Desalination is an Industrial Process

• Inputs– Seawater/brackish water– Energy

• Outputs– Waste/brine– Air Emissions

• Externalities– Coastal/inland impact– Noise pollution

• So…there are costs as well as benefits

Reverse Osmosis Membrane UnitsSource: Halcrow Water Serviceshttp://www.hwsdesalination.com/Membrane%20Desalination.html

Ashkelon Desalination Plant

• Largest Seawater RO plant in the world• A cost of $220,000,000 to construct • 100 mcm capacity• Drinking water at a price of approximately

2.6 NIS ($0.57 USD) per cubic meter • BOT principle• Eventually desalination will provide

approximately 15 percent of Israel’s household water supply.

The Benefits of Desalination

• Good quality cheap drinking water

• A technological option for augmenting water shortages

• Can ameliorate water conflicts– Water needs versus water rights

International Water Transfers: Israel and the Palestinians

Another Example: The Dead Sea is

Shrinking

Shoreline in 1984

Shoreline today

Technological optimism: Desalination to the Rescue

The Red-Dead Canal or Peace Conduit

The Red-Dead Canal or Peace Conduit

But…What About the Costs?• Desalination is energy costly

– Air emissions• Waste products

– Highly saline brine– Plume density– Chemicals– Temperature (MSF)

• Site of discharge• Plant location

– Large– Coast is crowded and over developed

• Interactions– Other users of the coast (tourism, fisheries)

• Public Disturbances– Noise

Management Goal

Social/cultural

Communication/

Consultation

Management Decision

Mitigation Technology

Economics

Weighting

Politics Risk Assessment

Critical Nature of Project

An Integrated Approach is Required

Source: Hull, R., Belluck, D. Lipchin, C. (2005) A Framework for Multi-Criteria Decision-Making With Special Reference to Critical Infrastructure. In: Ecotoxicology, Ecological Risk Assessment and Multiple Stressors (Arapsis, G., Goncharova, N., Baveye, P. eds.). Springer, Netherlands

An Integrated Approach is Required

• Desalination is supply oriented– Status quo is maintained i.e.: water for agriculture– No need to confront the public

• What about demand management?• Other water reuse options?• Rethink water policy in the region

– Agriculture– Industry– Domestic– Nature

• Desalination’s contribution to ME cooperation must be carefully explored– Needs versus rights– Technological optimism– Affordability– Environmental impact– Alternatives

An Integrated Approach is Required

Source: Walk Against Warming, Sydney Australia, Dec. 3rd 2005http://www.walkagainstwarming.org/