A few months ago, I was invited to give a talk to the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland on Scarcity, Conflict, & Security: The Future of Water for Israel & Her Neighbors. A flyer on the program can be found here. A local radio station – KBOO FM – recorded the presentation and, supplemented with a follow up phone interview, have presented extended excerpts on their Shalom Portland radio show. The 35 minute broadcast can be heard via Shalom Portland website (under the audio tab) as well as here.
In this presentation, I focused on the resources available to both Israelis and Palestinians and the difficulties that such scarcity creates for the region. I also offered a brief discussion on possible mechanisms for enhancing the availability of water resources for both peoples. In addition, I discussed my brief role in track II negotiations over transboundary fresh water resources between civil society representatives from both sides. Those negotiations, held in Maryland last year, were arranged under the auspices of the Geneva Initiative, which recently released their complete model Israeli-Palestinian Peace Agreement. The GI’s model agreement incorporates annexes on all of the major issues dividing the two parties, including the one on shared water resources. You can find my comments on that annex here.
