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Water history facets of landscape change in Israel/Palestine 1920–1970: a question of scale and periodization

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Abstract

The history of water is closely intertwined with the history of landscape change, particularly in rural settings. These landscape changes, in turn, have profound impacts on the water resources. The landscape of Israel/Palestine has been transformed dramatically in the twentieth century. This transformation involved the widespread abstraction of water from their natural basins. Yet, studies of the modern history of Israel/Palestine have tended to separate the settlement and water histories. Here we examine the inter-relations between water resources and landscape change in Israel/Palestine between 1920 and 1970. In three case studies, selected to represent the different stages of water system development in this era, the relationships between landscape change and water resource development were examined. These allow us to critically analyze the scale and periodization at which previous studies were conducted, suggesting that a more nuanced area-sensitive periodization is called for when water and landscape inter-relations are analyzed.

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Notes

  1. Karmon’s (1958) work on the Sharon and Amir’s (1988) analysis of landscape change as a function of water conveyance are notable exceptions to this statement as is Tal’s (2002) wide ranging discussion of water in the context of Israel’s environmental history.

  2. This period is largely commensurate with the British Mandate Period (the years between 1917 and 1920, being the period of British military rule, before the Mandate was decreed and a civilian government established), and the first era of Israeli water policies, as identified by Feitelson (2013). We continue a few years beyond the period defined by him as the first, hydraulic imperative, era (he concluded it with the inauguration of the National Water Carrier in 1964), as at the regional scale analyzed here complementary actions stemming from the hydraulic imperative frame of mind were undertaken also after the NWC was completed.

  3. Land and water inter-relations are particularly pronounced in the Mediterranean climatic zone, as this is the zone within which almost all of the rain falls. The dynamics in the southern half of Israel, the arid Negev desert, are less related to water utilization (though some of them are dependent on water conveyance from the north) and hence they are not included in this study.

  4. A few regional systems were built in the Roman–Byzantine period, such as the water supply to Jerusalem and to Caesarea. These systems, however, often suffered from lack of maintenance in subsequent centuries.

  5. The NWC was planned as part of the national water master plan that was prepared in 1950. Work commenced in 1953 near the Bnot Yaacov Bridge. However, due to Syrian opposition it was stopped, and resumed only after the Johnston accords were agreed upon in 1955. Thereupon, the outtake was moved to the Sea of Galilee. Still, work on parts of the NWC that were not affected by the location of the outtake were carried out also in the interim years (Tahal 1955; Selzer 2010).

  6. All the case study areas are largely rural. The relationship between water resource development and urbanization in modern Israel/Palestine processes awaits further research.

  7. We did not, however, analyze the irrigation methods and improvements in irrigation efficiency, or water use patterns at the single farmer level, all of which are beyond the scope of this paper, and not crucial for the questions we analyze.

  8. The Peel Commission was the first to propose, in 1937, that Israel/Palestine will be divided into two countries—one Jewish and one Palestinian. It based the demarcation of the boundaries between the two to a large extent on the existing settlement pattern. This principle had widespread implications for subsequent Jewish settlement patterns (Reichman 1979, 1990).

  9. Beisan is the Arab name of Beth Shean. We use Beisan to refer to the Arab town and British references and Beth Shean to refer to the Israeli town and Jewish references to the valley.

  10. Due to the discontinuity of land in Jewish ownership only limited water instillations were built, with minor effect (Blass 1973, pp. 103–104).

  11. Morris (1988) provides a detailed account of the specifics of this exodus.

  12. Regional Development Plan, 1949, ISA 7645/GL-2.

  13. Report of the Beth Shean Committee, Advisory Committee for Water Works, Beth Shean, July 1954, ISA 7654/GL2.

  14. Water from the Jordan River augmented the regional scheme, and had lower salinity levels than other sources in the valley until 1964. Henceforth, salinity levels in the lower Jordan river rose dramatically (Nir 1989).

  15. This does not imply that the formal authority of the national bodies in Beth Shean is any lesser than in other parts of the country. Rather, it suggests that the practice of authority provides greater weight to the regional water utility than in most parts of the country, as it was one of the first to be set up after 1948.

  16. The kibbutzim are fully collectivized communal settlements. The first was established in 1910. They were central to the Jewish nation building movement in the first half of the twentieth century, and were politically very powerful in the state’s early years, as much of the national leadership was affiliated with them.

  17. Jewish settlements were built further south for geo-political reasons during these periods (Kark 1974). A local regional water system was built to facilitate this effort (Selzer 2010). However, the Lachish region was seen as less important geo-politically, and had no water sources nearby, and thus no Jewish settlements were built within it until the 1950s.

  18. This plan was partially driven by the changes in geo-political and security concerns following the establishment of the state (Amiran et al. 1978; Reichman 1990).

  19. The Jewish agency was the main funder and planner of rural settlements in the early State period, while the Ministry of Agriculture was responsible for the agricultural planning, which was highly centralized. Hence by forming this center rural and agricultural planning were brought together.

  20. We could not find a clear statement of this connection in the archives. However, it can be deduced from the plans that were proposed. The lack of a clear statement can perhaps be explained by the fact that the availability of the Yarkon–Negev pipeline and its plans were common knowledge to all planners at the time, and thus needed no mentioning.

  21. Up to this point a small local system was put in place to supply the kibbutzim just south of the study area.

  22. Lachish Region, State archive, 8110/11.

  23. Additional purchases and settlement were made by private Jewish enterprises in this area (Kark 1986).

  24. Within 3 years (1948–1951) over 600000 new immigrants arrived, effectively doubling the Jewish population, and raising many difficult issues with regard to their absorption (Hacohen 1994). Agricultural settlement in the relatively water-rich Sharon was one of the most readily available options.

  25. These were enabled by geo-hydrological studies and technological improvements in drilling in the early twentieth century (Karmon 1958).

  26. This figure fluctuated. In years of drought water flow ceased in parts of the river.

  27. Following the Johnston accords the Jordanians built the Abdullah (then Eastern Ghore) Canal, thereby reducing water flows from the Yarmouk tributary. Later, the Israeli-Jordanian peace agreement (of 1994), the building of the Syrian-Jordanian Unity dam and unilateral Syrian dam building on the Yarmouk’s tributaries led to further decline of these flows.

  28. This law nationalized all the water resources and entrusted the management of all the water (including recycled water) in the hands of a Water Commissioner. It also established Mekorot as the national water company which operates all inter-regional water transfers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, 91905, Jerusalem, Israel

    Eran Feitelson

  2. Land of Israel Studies Department, Haifa University, 31905, Haifa, Israel

    Assaf Selzer

  3. Ministry of Environment, 5 Kanfei Nesharim St., Jerusalem, Israel

    Ram Almog

Authors
  1. Eran Feitelson
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  2. Assaf Selzer
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  3. Ram Almog
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Correspondence to Eran Feitelson.

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Feitelson, E., Selzer, A. & Almog, R. Water history facets of landscape change in Israel/Palestine 1920–1970: a question of scale and periodization. Water Hist 6, 265–288 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12685-014-0104-8

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