Green Cross International supports a vision of regional cooperation based on the concept of the unity of the river basin. The interdependencies in the hydraulic cycle dictate that any unilateral action to preserve shared water will be greatly limited in its effectiveness if not coordinated with the actions of fellow basin states. It seems so obvious, but the fact is that this principle and concept is not yet universally accepted. The water problem in the Jordan Valley and the whole Middle East has reached an extent beyond the scope of any individual state or people to solve. Basin-wide action is therefore imperative and will install greater security and trust amongst the different inhabitants of the region. National sovereignty should be used as a tool rather than a barrier in the integrated management of shared waters as the common ecosystem demands the greatest possible degree of cooperation between the different Peoples.

In the interest of everyone in the region, more efforts must be made towards greater cooperation to improve the daily lives of people during this transition period. Water is key to the economic development of the region and the advancement of its people; the current water availability will not be able to accommodate any level of growth under the existing allocation practices. Shared water creates a natural link which should be exploited to enhance all areas of cooperation. Effective integrated watercourses management requires a recognised institutional body with the adapted financial means to act. In future, a Regional River Basin Authority should be created in the framework of an international Convention on the Protection and Development of Jordan Valley Watercourses.

In this region the link between water and people is primarily food. Therefore it is here that the key to Water for Peace in the Middle East lies. There will not be not enough water here to feed the population, and the continued demographic and economic expansion now requires that the region adopts a new water paradigm. This realisation is not new, but it is being accepted only very reluctantly.

3.1. Value of Water
What is in question is the value of water, and this is not an easy one to answer. A person's supply of essential drinking and domestic water is so valuable that many argue that it cannot and should not be priced. The water used to irrigate crops is only as valuable as the amount it would cost to import those crops from elsewhere, or alternatively the amount it would cost to desalinate the water needed to replace it; in neither of these cases is this amount high enough to warrant any level of dispute. Naturally occurring water must be used, as an absolute and regionally respected priority, for the domestic needs of all people and the preservation of the environment before it is allocated to any other purposes. This is true of any region, but is essential in fragile, arid environments like the Middle East.

The environment must be respected as a water user. Water scarcity has led to serious over-pumping of aquifers in the region beyond their recharge rates. Many of these aquifers are shared, and their permanent depletion could develop into a cause of conflict if not addressed. There are also widespread problems of land erosion, salt water intrusion in coastal areas and increased pressures from urbanisation. The fragile natural environment must be considered in any proposal as when properly managed it is both a water user and a water generator.

3.2. Full Cost Pricing of Water
Pricing water at what it costs to provide can increase access by those who need it, and prevent the poorest members of a society being forced to pay higher prices for water from private vendors. Pricing structures can also be designed to protect the interests of those who cannot afford to pay the full price. Pricing water encourages conservation and reuse and-in combination with the development of water markets--can facilitate the reallocation of water to the highest value use. This greater efficiency not only makes economic sense, it also, by reducing the total amount of resources used for human consumption, makes environmental sense.

Pricing water, establishing water markets and managing water resources for water supply, sanitation, irrigation, drainage and other human uses as "service businesses" will increase the involvement of the private sector. This has the potential to increase by orders of magnitude the funds available for investment and for research and development on water resources.

First of all it is necessary to address the question of irrigated agriculture in the entire region as this is overwhelmingly the largest water user.

4.1. Importance of Agriculture in the economy
Certain sectors of the economies of the Palestinian Authority Areas, Israel and Jordan have already demonstrated that water resource-deficient regions can generate livelihoods and initiate development beyond that which stems from traditional rural activities. In Israel, agriculture accounts for only 3% of the GDP, yet water is still allocated in abundance for irrigation. Water is more than a simple liquid; in some circumstances it is also an economic good and as such it can be traded and substituted. Water can be made available to arid regions through the importation of agricultural products, and in particular food, far cheaper and with less hazardous consequences to the environment than attempts to produce the population's food requirements locally. This also frees large amounts of water for domestic, environmental and, once these needs are met, industrial and developmental activities. Water can be used far more efficiently, in terms of both income generation and employment opportunities, in business, services, tourism or manufacturing, thus increasing the nation's GDP and therefore the funds which they will need to purchase food via international markets. With greater economic productivity, a state can achieve total self-reliance and food security, which is more reliable and sustainable in an arid zone than attempts to achieve food self-sufficiency. All such major adjustments in a society must be accompanied by awareness raising and education programmes; no change will be sustainable if it out-runs a community's capacity to adapt to new circumstances.

4.2. Toward Regional Food Security
Urgent solutions are required, and any solution will necessarily involve a variety of measures as well as a drastic reappraisal of current agricultural practices. Many states in arid regions have already "run-out" of water in terms of being anywhere close to the ability to claim self-sufficiency in food production. Yet the ideal of self-sufficiency has so long been connected with state-security and independence that authorities are loath to admit this, thinking it would be "political suicide" and weaken their position in relation to other states. This is a paradigm which should be encouraged to shift if the political, social and environmental consequences of water scarcity are to be averted. The alternative, and preferable policy choice is that of food security. This option was long ago adopted by states such as Japan, Singapore and Malta, resulting in massive increases in the development and wealth of the countries as there are much "higher returns" to water in service and industrial sectors than in agriculture. In the Jordan Valley, the regional food security should be actively sought.

4.3. Virtual Water
The water embedded in food traded on international markets is know as "virtual water". The virtual water paradigm has been presented as a solution to the problem of balancing economic and population growth, ecological sustainability and the provision of an acceptable standard of living for all people. Importing virtual water is a way of achieving an equilibrium and therefore reconciling the sustainable development debate in the Middle East without curbing economic growth in the region. Food security and adequate supplies of water for domestic, industrial and certain agricultural needs can coexist under this new paradigm. Virtual water manages to reallocate the spatially unequal distribution of water resources by harnessing global soil water, mostly from temperate zones, for the benefit of all regions. There is almost no naturally occurring soil water in this part of the Middle East, which makes the use of natural surface and underground waters for irrigation an extremely expensive practice. Expensive in the sense that agriculture is not an efficient method of transforming scarce water resources into economic gains; expensive when considering that this water is currently being taken at a rate beyond that which can be naturally replenished; and, most of all, expensive in a region where not all people have access to clean water for drinking and sanitation.

4.4. Agricultural Biotechnology
In mid and long-term, agricultural biotechnology can also help to relieving the water crisis. The Jordan Valley farmers could produce more by, for example, developing new crop varieties that are drought-tolerant, resistant to insects and weeds, resistant to a certain level of salinity, and able to capture nitrogen from the air. Biotech can also make the foods farmers produce more nutritious by increasing the Vitamin A, iron and other nutrients in the edible portion of the plant. Modern biotechnology research, together with appropriate policies, better infrastructure and traditional research methods already developed in Israel in full cooperation with fellow riparian countries can bring benefits to farmers and consumers in the whole region. Governments must invest in biotech. research to help farmers, and the public and private sectors must work as partners.

4.5. Decision Making Support Models
Water is essential to life, development and the environment, and the three must be managed together, not sequentially. Research, public education and the management of watersheds and river basins by local communities can make this possible. Each water community, as part of the water planning process, should consider how much water to allocate to the natural environment that provides them with water for life. Decision-support models are available for this, in the form of the Water Allocation and Management Planning process, and experience using them should be observed carefully for their efficacy and with a view to applying the lessons learned elsewhere. International and national legislation should require this, as it does already in Australia and South Africa and should be developed in Middle East to assist the decision-makers to make the right choice.

4.6. Package of Solutions
The shift away from attempts at food self-sufficiency to a policy of self-reliance and food security, heavily inter-linked with the progress towards greater regional security, must also be complemented by other measures. There is no miracle cure to the region's water shortage, but a package of solutions including: improved agricultural efficiency "more crops per drop", the Blue Revolution, improved water efficiency "more jobs per drop", better distribution to reduce losses, greater public awareness and participation, a commitment to water equity and rights, information sharing, and the development of new water supplies through re-use, recycling and desalination. All involve an important value and perception change, from seeing water as a commodity to be exploited, often at the expense of one's neighbours and the environment, and a source of conflict, to seeing the region's water as a shared and fragile resource to be used for the benefit of all peoples and as an avenue towards greater cooperation and trust in the region.

Green Cross is an organization which promotes value change - cultivating a more harmonious relationship between humankind and the environment - which should never be sacrificed for short-term gains. Any Peace agreement which ignores the long-term and essential concerns of these two major stakeholders, People and Nature, will be just that - a short-term gain.

What is happening in Middle East can be perceived as a laboratory of innovations in the domain of water conflict prevention and resolution. The world will use the experience gathered here because, if today the world experiences a severe crisis in water supply and sanitation-tomorrow's crisis will most probably be in food production. Because many parts of the planet do not or will not have enough water to produce their own food locally, a combination of institutional change, water saving technology and better water resources management must increase the food productivity per unit of water everywhere. In addition, regional and international trade agreements must ensure international food security so that countries can relax their objectives of national food self-sufficiency.

Changing the situation will require one or more paradigm shifts, and among the most urgent is the need for agriculture to shift from increasing land productivity to increasing water productivity. We are standing at the eve of a Blue Revolution. Water can contribute towards a lasting peace by uniting the people in the common and mutually essential pursuit of enough water for everyone and water and food security for the future.