Climate change and transboundary initiatives in the jordan river basin: Can civil society show the way?

Decreased rainfall in the Jordan River Basin (JRB), predicted under many climate change scenarios, threatens disaster for its five riparian nations - Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and Palestine. The river has been an important freshwater source since the early twentieth century. Israel, Jordan and Syria abstract the majority of water through massive diversion structures to provide freshwater for agriculture and potable water for major population centres. Climate change is just one of several interconnected challenges for this already water scarce region, with its unresolved political tensions, economic uncertainties and rapidly expanding populations. This chapter offers an analysis of the recent history of water management around the JRB focusing on Israel, Palestine and Jordan. It proposes that this is best understood by looking at four different paradigms of thinking, which explain the institutions, structures and discourses around its management. These are referred to here as the ‘military-diplomatic paradigm’, the ‘technology paradigm’, the ‘sustainable transboundary’ paradigm and ‘water rights’ paradigm. The chapter explores how each management paradigm has defined ‘water security’. It extends the definition of security to include environmental health, equity, sustainable livelihoods in the Basin and climate mitigation efforts, as elements that can enhance resilience in a river basin to future climate changes. Given the failure of governments to establish a just institutional regime for managing the JRB, the chapter pays particular attention to the role of transboundary civil society water management initiatives. Although these initiatives have made tangible improvements to the health of the Basin, this chapter explores whether they can be truly effective while they conflict with the water rights paradigm for the equitable distribution of water within the JRB.