December 2000 Newsmagazine of the Earth Sciences News Notes Water rights Sharing water in the West Bank Flooding in Jerusalem on Oct. 25 quelled the violence in the region, if only for a day. After 3 inches of rain fell in six hours, the Associated Press reported acts of heroism as Arabs and Jews in the southern region of Tel Aviv awoke at 4 a.m. in ground-floor apartments that were watery death traps. These were the blessed rains that arrived at the end of summer. But, in a land plagued with political strife and chronic water shortages, acts of altruism are rare.
Political boundaries cross over geologic ones.
To achieve peace, Palestinians and Israelis must share both the land and the water. Water is used as a vehicle to demonstrate power, says conference speaker Hans Kupfersberger of Joanneum Research in Graz, Austria. But common management goals of the aquifer do not exist, he says. The problem is that until today no serious hydrological investigation has been undertaken. Others disagree, citing investigations that go back to the 1960s.