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Analysis: Worsening Dispute Over Water Between Lebanese And Israeli Governments
All Things Considered: October 15, 2002
 Lebanon - Israel - Water
JACKI LYDEN, host:
It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Jacki Lyden.
JOHN YDSTIE, host:
And I'm John Ydstie.
A dispute over water is threatening the fragile peace along Israel's border with Lebanon. Lebanon is planning to pump water from the Wazzani Springs near the Israeli border to help parched villages in the region. But water from the Wazzani ultimately feeds into Israel's water network, and Israeli leaders say the Lebanese project would worsen an already acute water shortage. They're threatening to use force to block it. NPR's Kate Seelye reports from southern Lebanon.
SOUNDBITE OF WATER FLOWING
KATE SEELYE reporting:
The clear waters of the Wazzani rush innocently from an underground spring in southeastern Lebanon. Little more than a creek, the Wazzani meanders a few miles before feeding into Lebanon Hatzbani River, which flows south into the River Jordan and ultimately into Israel's Sea of Galilee.
SOUNDBITE OF CONSTRUCTION
SEELYE: Here along the banks of the Wazzani, laborers are working to complete a water pumping station. When finished, the project will provide drinking water to more than a dozen villages in the south. The mayor of nearby Kafarkila(ph), Nasser Sarhan(ph), says existing water systems are being strained by a population boom that followed Israel's withdrawal from South Lebanon in May 2000.
Mayor NASSER SARHAN (Kafarkila): (Foreign language spoken)
SEELYE: `We sometimes get water once a week, sometimes once a month,' says Sarhan. `We don't have enough and we need more if we're going to develop the region.'
But Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has called the Lebanese project grounds for war and has threatened to destroy the pumping station. Israel claims the Wazzani project threatens to lower the water level of the Sea of Galilee at a time when Israel is facing a water crisis. But to residents of this parched region, Israel's concerns seem exaggerated. In the village of Adasi(ph), people look south across the border at Israel's lush farms of apple and apricot trees, while on the Lebanese side olive trees are turning brown from drought. Halil Abud(ph), an unemployed father of five, says because of the water shortage, he's forced to buy his own water.
Mr. HALIL ABUD: (Foreign language spoken)
SEELYE: `It costs me $30 for about eight days' worth,' says Abud, money he doesn't have. He says the Wazzani water project will change his family's life. It'll free up funds for his children's health care and schooling. He might even be able to start a small garden. He says an Israeli attack on the pumping station would be profoundly unjust.
Mr. ABUD: (Foreign language spoken)
SEELYE: `Are we not as human as they are?' asks Abud. `Don't we have a right to our own water?'
There is no formal treaty governing the sharing of water between Israel and Lebanon, however Lebanese officials often point to a 1955 US study known as the Johnston Plan. Though never ratified, it declared that Lebanon could rightfully pump 35 million cubic meters a year from the Wazzani and Hatzbani rivers. American University of Beirut Professor Musa Nimeh says that even with the new pumping station, Lebanon will draw no more than 10 million cubic meters a year.
Professor MUSA NIMEH (American University of Beirut): We are taking less than one-third of our share. Still, I have the right to pump another 35 million.
SEELYE: Lebanese analyst Michael Young says he believes Israel is making a big fuss over the matter because of the precedent Lebanon may set by pumping water without its approval. In the mid-'60s, Israel attacked a pumping station on the Wazzani and, says Young, that could happen again. Only this time, he says, Israel is likely to face retaliation by Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas.
Mr. MICHAEL YOUNG (Lebanese Analyst): If they decide to attack, then it will be obviously very difficult for Hezbollah not to fire at Israel. What you're going to very quickly escalate to is rocket attacks across the border, Israeli retaliation against Lebanese infrastructure, and that's, of course, really a nightmare scenario.
SEELYE: US envoys have been shuttling between Israel and Lebanon seeking to avert a water war. Michael Young says the US is trying to fashion a compromise solution to the crisis, but he says Israel's threats of an attack have complicated matters.
Mr. YOUNG: Israelis have prevented any kind of discussion, of sane discussion, on what the parties are entitled to--what Lebanon is entitled to, what they're entitled to.
SEELYE: Lebanese officials have prepared a report for the United Nations outlining what they claim are Lebanon's rights to the Wazzani waters. They say they're hoping the crisis can be resolved diplomatically. Kate Seelye, NPR News, South Lebanon.
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