The Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, Syrians and Lebanese share a common geography and a common hydrology on the Jordan River Basin. This paper presents proposals for the establishment of an International Jordan River Joint Commission to manage the water quantity and quality questions of shared transboundary water resources of the Jordan River Basin. The approach proposed is to base the solution of the quantity questions on the concept of equitable apportionment to meet the minimum human and social needs for survival as expressed in the Helsinki Rules drafted by the International Law Association. It is proposed that the method of a fair and equitable water allocation defined as the Minimum Water Requirement-MWR should be equal amount of water -- 125 cubic metres/person/year, for essential human survival needs including domestic consumption and urban/industrial use with only a minimal allocation for local production of fresh vegetables. It is proposed that all five riparians share in the responsibility of managing the environmental aspects of the shared waters as well as sharing in the obligation to assist, in proportion to their available resources, those riparians -- Jordan and the Palestinians, who will be unable, in the future, to meet their Minimum Water Requirement-MWR needed for survival.
CLOSING THE (WIDENING) GAP BETWEEN NATURAL WATER RESOURCES AND WATER NEEDS IN THE JORDAN RIVER BASIN: A LONG-TERM PERSPECTIVE
