water, agriculture and zionism: exploring the interface between policy and ideology clive lipchin,...
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Water, Agriculture and Zionism: Exploring the
Interface between Policy and Ideology
Clive Lipchin, Director of Research
Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, Israel
www.arava.orgAmerican Society for Environmental History
2006 Annual MeetingJoint Conference
St. Paul, Minnesota
March 29-April 2, 2006
Water, Agriculture and Zionism: Exploring the Interface between
Policy and Ideology
Israel's Water Resources - What are they, where are they and what is their condition?Water as ideologyThe Rise and Dominance of AgricultureIsraeli Water Policy and Decision-makingThe Decline of Agriculture Local Perceptions on water, agriculture and ZionismRethinking Zionist Ideology
Study Area3 Major Sources:
Jordan River System / Kinneret
Mountain Aquifer
Coastal Aquifer
Chronic Water Chronic Water ScarcityScarcityTotal renewable supply: 1600 mcm/yr
Water Availability:
~ 270-300 m3/cap/yr (340 w/sewage)
For 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
Jordan => 230 m3/cap/yr (245 w/sewage)
Palestinians => 95 m3/cap/yr
Lebanon => 1,300 m3/cap/yr
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
Israel’s Water Deficit
Year Population (inmillions)
Waterconsumption (mcm
per year)A
Renewable freshwater supply (mcm
per year)1991 4.4 2,100-2,200 1,9502010 6.02015 6.3 2,800-2,900 2,060 C
2020 6.4 B
A: Including Golan heights and Jewish Settlements in West BankB: Immigration of Soviet Jews during the 1990s will increase the 2020 population figureby about 1 million.C: Excluding West Bank and Gaza Strip
Source: Lowi, M.R. (1993) Water and Power: The Politics of a Scarce Resource in the Jordan River Basin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Water level of the mountain aquifer (Source: Israel Environment Bulletin 23 (2): Spring 2000, Ministry of the Environment).
Water as Ideology
Objectives of Zionism Population
Pro-immigration and pro-natality policies A Jewish demographic reality
Mode of Life Rural Cooperative
Territory Redemption of the land through agriculture Conquering the unsettled He who works the land has rights and ownership to
it Establishing borders and protecting the periphery
Agriculture has been influenced by socio-religious doctrine
“The construction of the country has its central basis in agriculture, which for all other nations is just an
essential economic factor. But for the nation whose being is all sacred, and whose country and language are
all sacred…even its agriculture is soaked in sacredness…”
Rabbi A. Y. H. Kook, first chief rabbi of Palestine, 1937
Water as Ideology
Environmental Perceptions Helped Shape Agricultural and Water Development
Romantic RuralismInitial pioneers glorified the renewal of the relationship between the Jew and soilBiblical romanticismRejection of the Jewish character in the ghetto
But the environment was actually quite harsh – a cause for anxiety
Ethos of DevelopmentMastering the alien environment hence overcame anxietyA means to socialize new immigrants through co-operative effort
Wake up, O sand, because cement is attacking you/stone and cement/a hand full of iron/a path is paved/a city sings a song
Nathan Alterman, 1934
Water as Ideology
The Rise and Dominance of Agriculture
Water project construction for agriculture was guided by ideological (ethos of development) and geopolitical considerations in which economic factors were only of secondary significance and with scant environmental considerations.
…the water of the Jordan flows down to the Dead Sea, and the Yarkon water flows to the Mediterranean…even the rains, plentiful in the north and minimal in the south, flow wasted, in large measures to the Mediterranean or the Dead Sea, without fully benefiting the thirsty soil.
David Ben Gurion, 1956
Israel’s first prime minister
Large-Scale Public Works: The National
Water Carrier
•Diminished flows to the Jordan River
•Shrinking of the Dead Sea
•Degradation of Water Quality in Sea of Galilee
Israeli Water Policy and Decision-Making
Developed within a socio-political system rather than a market system
Extremely centralized Ministry of Agriculture until recently appointed the water
commissioner who is responsible for water allocations, distribution and pricing
Since 1996 the water commissioner has been appointed by the Ministry of Infrastructure not the Ministry of Environment
All water is managed by the national water company established in 1959, Mekorot, that supplies water to all sectors and sets prices primarily based on quality and not quantity
Israel Water Law established in 1959, annulled private ownership of all water resources and placed their management with the state
Agricultural interests largely in concurrence with the water commissioner and the Ministry of Agriculture
Water for Agriculture in Israel and Palestine
Israel Palestine (West Bank/Gaza)
Water Consumption by Sector (in %):
Agriculture 63 62
Industrial 6 38
Domestic 31
Arable Land in % of total surface area
21 27/45%**
Irrigated Land in % of total cropland
50 6/58%**
Irrigation water* in cubic meters/capita
220 80
*Approximately 30% is treated wastewater
**The first data refer to the West Bank, the second to the Gaza Strip
Adapted from: Libiszewski, S. (1995). Water disputes in the Jordan Basin Region and their role in the Resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict (ENCOP Occasional Paper No.: 13): Center for Security Policy and Conflict Research/Swiss Peace Foundation.
Managing the Water Budget
Reducin g A llocat ion to A griculture
Pum ping from Reservoirs
Reducin g A llocat ion to R eservoirs
A llocation ac ross sectors :Agriculture, Urb an, Reservoirs
Priority to the urban sector but with guarantees to agriculture:
•Hydrological subsidies
•Price distortions
•Domestic protectionism
•Tariffs and import quotas
Water for the future
A buffer against discrepancies
Discounting the future
Ensuring promised water to agriculture
Recently reduced by 50%
Heavy compensation for farmers
All cuts considered temporary until conditions improve
Local Perceptions on Water, Agriculture and
Zionism
Representative sample of kibbutz residents in the southern AravaOver 250 people sampledOnly adults over the age of eighteen
Study Area
Aerial Photograph of Kibbutz Ketura
Residential Area
Dairy
Date Orchards
Field CropsWastewater treatment ponds
Kibbutz - An Artificial Oasis in the Arava Desert
Agricultural Pursuits in the Southern Arava
Date Orchards
Field Crops
Dairy Farming
At the Local Level
At the Local Level
Table 5: Responses (in percentage) by residents of kibbutzim in the Arava Valley to questions about water, agriculture and ideological values (n=249).
Statement Yes No Don't know Do you think the date palms help to beautify the desert landscape
85.54 10.74 3.72
Do you think the green fields of the fruit and vegetable crops help to beautify the desert landscape
71.07 21.49 7.44
Survey Question:
Agriculture is Important for the National Security
of the State, Even if it means Using a Lot of
Water
106103644136362341N =
Community
Yahel
New e Harif
Neot Smadar
Eilot
Elifaz
Samar
Yotvata
Grophit
Lotan
Ketura
Re
spo
nse
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Agriculture is Important for the National Security of the State, Even if it means Using a Lot of Water
A relationship exists between local and national ideology (Linear-by-Linear Association=7.759, p=0.005)
7 out of 10 kibbutzim agree, but within variation exists
Survey Question:
Agriculture is Necessary as a Means of Making a
Living in the Arava Valley
106103644136362341N =
Community
Yahel
New e Harif
Neot Smadar
Eilot
Elifaz
Samar
Yotvata
Grophit
Lotan
Ketura
Re
spo
nse
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Agriculture is Necessary as a Means of Making a Living in the Arava ValleyA relationship exists between local and national ideology (Pearson chi-square=76.8, p<0.001)7 out of 10 kibbutzim agree to strongly agree with this statement
Ideology at the Local Level is Strong Despite ...…
…And at the National Level Domestic and industrial sectors are expanding Population of approximately 6 million is set to double in the
next 27 years Israel can import much of its agricultural needs from abroad
Decline in Agriculture At its height in 1941, the Jewish rural population was 29% and has
been declining ever since Agriculture’s contribution to GDP in 1991 was 3% Agricultural labor force in 1990-92 (as a share of total employment)
was 4% Agriculture’s share of total exports in 1990 was 2.5% Less than 10% of kibbutz and moshav members work in agriculture
Reforming Agricultural Policy Decentralize water policy
Privatize some operations Transform water commissioner to a planning and regulatory agent Restructure Mekorot as an inter-regional water conveyance
operation Local control in water supply
Market based policies Price elasticity is high in agricultural sector – increase water rates
to farmers, that is scale back subsidies => reduce water consumption
Price inelastic in domestic sector => shift water supply to domestic arena
Property rights Liberalize trading policies (e.g.: export of flowers – “Europe’s
Winter Greenhouse”) Removal of expensive domestic agricultural products from
production (e.g.: citrus) Protect agricultural land as open space Increase and improve wastewater treatment
…And Back to the National Level
“…water is not merely an economic resource but a means of settling the periphery, protecting state land and a means of conserving farmers and farming.”
Ariel Sharon
Haaretz Newspaper, April 19, 2001
Sustainable Water Use Scenario
P u m p fro m rese rvo irs
R e d uce a llo ca tion s to re servo irs
R e d uce a llo ca tio n s to ag ricu ltu re
A llo ca tio n a cro ss se c to rsA g ricu ltu re , U rba n , R ese rvo irs
•Decentralized policies
•Market based system
•Scaling back subsidies
•New technologies e.g.: desalination
•Demand management
Rethinking Zionism
Objectives of Zionism
Mode of life Over 90% of the population is urban Capitilasim rules!
Territory 60% of the country remains desert – “the desert has yet to
bloom” Most of the population lives along the coastal plain Center of the country has one of the highest population densities
in the world Borders remain unconfirmed
Yet the ideals of Zionism still resonate strongly at both the national and local levels