Water fight intensifies Mideast conflict

(CNN) -- Israel and its Arab neighbors have long fought over land rights in the Middle East. Now, something under the land might brew up more trouble -- water rights could become a contentious issue in this parched region. Next@CNN discussed the topic with Sandra Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project in Amherst, Massachusetts.

NEXT@CNN: Does water play a role in the prospect for peace?

SANDRA POSTEL: Water very much plays a role in the prospects for peace. In any political process to create an independent Palestinian state, water sharing will have to be figured into that. There is not yet a clear agreement on the use and access to the ground water beneath the West Bank. So any effort to create an independent Palestinian state will have to be accompanied by a water-sharing agreement that allocates the water evenly between the two parties.

NEXT@CNN: Where does the water come from, and what shape are these water sources in?

POSTEL: The Israelis get their water from three main sources: the Sea of Galilee, which is fed by the upper head waters of the Jordan river and an aquifer, an underground source of water along the coastal plain near the Mediterranean. The third major source is the aquifer beneath the West Bank, which has become an increasingly important source to Israel, particularly in these recent years when there's been a serious drought.

NEXT@CNN: Who controls the water? Can any Israeli or Palestinian just sink a well?

POSTEL: Since Israel has controlled the West Bank, Israel more or less controlled access to the groundwater on the West Bank. So generally Palestinians wanting to drill a well into that groundwater supply had to get permission from Israeli authorities to do that, and Israel would not always grant permission.

NEXT@CNN: I've heard there are some discrepancies between use of water between Israelis settlements and Palestinian towns?

POSTEL: I think part of the issue is not only is water scarce in this region, but there is inequitable access and use of it. Israeli settlers on the West Bank are using in the order of 4 times more water per person than Palestinians on the West Bank. And some Palestinian families don't even have access to enough water to meet even fairly basic household water needs. While some of the Israeli settlements are much more generously supplied, they might have swimming pools and green lawns. They are living in such close proximity to each other and this access to water is so inequitable, it really does, I think, fuel some of the tensions between them on the West Bank.

NEXT@CNN: What is the water forecast for all of these nations, and do they have working agreements in place?

POSTEL: The basic problem is that water demands are growing as the population is increasing. Right now Israel is looking at building some desalination plants; these are facilities that are equipped to desalt seawater, hoping to generate fresh water supplies.

I think the forecast in terms of the region is increasing water stress. They're looking at having to manage more efficiently a finite supply. Currently there is no water sharing agreement that includes all the political parties within the whole Jordan basin: Israel, Jordan, the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon. As part of the peace treaty that Israel signed with Jordan in 1994, they resolved some of their differences, and there was a water component to that treaty. In the interim agreement that Israel and the Palestinians signed in 1995, Israel acknowledged for the first time that the Palestinians have rights to the water under the West Bank, but the actual determination of these rights and the allocation of the water was left for the final status talks and have yet to be worked out.

NEXT@CNN: Have the Mideast countries made any progress on conservation and finding alternative sources of water?

POSTEL: Israel has been one of the world's leaders in using water more efficiently, in agriculture and the industrial sector and in the residential sector. Certainly they are credited with making drip irrigation commercially viable. This is a very efficient technology for irrigating crops; it delivers water in very low quantities directly to the roots of the plant. They are also treating wastewater, and using that as an irrigation supply, and sort of getting double benefit out of the water -- using it more than once. They have been very good at installing efficient fixtures in homes and businesses. So I think they're moving ahead on the efficiency side of things.

NEXT@CNN: Looking to the future and hope for the peace process, what issues of water need to be resolved?

POSTEL: I think that the primary issue is the equitable use and allocation of the limited water that's there. I think just looking at the situation now, it's clear that it's not an equitable situation. I think that getting to a place where everyone in the region has a basic level of water security, that there is a basic supply for household needs, for jobs, is really in everyone's interests.