2010 Student Research Conference:
23rd Annual Student Research Conference

Water for a Desert Farm
Laura Beth Cleveland
Dr. Mark Appold, Faculty Mentor

The peoples of the Middle East have coped with nonexistent rainfall, dry wells, and a scarce water supply for millennia. In Israel, the problem of adequate water supplies is magnified under the microscope of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Differing economic goals, technological capabilities, and power levels between the two groups result in an inequitable distribution of the lands water from the Jordan River, Lake Tiberias (the Sea of Galilee), and underground aquifers. In particular, Israels wasteful but religiously and nationally motivated agricultural policies have diverted water from ground sources at a rate exceeding the lands natural recharge rate. Meanwhile, Palestinians are left at the mercy of restrictive Israeli regulations that severely limit their own agricultural efforts. Despite recent developments in alternative water production technologies such as desalinization, water use and distribution within Israel remains a key component in the continuing conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Keywords: water, Israeli, Palestinian, desert

Topic(s):Philosophy & Religion

Presentation Type: Oral Paper

Session: 31-3
Location: MG 1090
Time: 10:00

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