Epilogue: Trends in Groundwater Development Policy in Israel Between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

The natural water resources available in the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea are approximately of 1.2 billion cubic meters per year (in average). The population in this area has grown in the last hundred years from about 1 million people to about 15 million people. Natural water resources no longer meet the needs of the population, not today and certainly not in future. Climate change exacerbates the problem of scarcity, which will increase in the coming decades. The State of Israel is prepared to meet this challenge with number of largescale seawater desalination plants along the Mediterranean shore that provide drinking water to the entire population in the area and is working to reuse all the treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation. It must be ensured that natural water resources will remain for the purposes of conserving the aquatic environment in rivers and springs and the needs of the population will continue to be met through desalination. This is the water resources management strategy in Israel.