Water Securitization and Transboundary Dispute Resolution Frameworks in the Jordan River Basin

Global Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies | Vol. 1, No. 3, March 2010 | pp. 89–96

DOI: 10.46882/2010/GJPCS/000003

Research Article

Water Securitization and Transboundary Dispute Resolution Frameworks in the Jordan River Basin

Tariq Al-Husseini¹, Michal Bar-Asher²

¹Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan

²Department of Geography, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

Abstract: Transboundary water systems in arid regions frequently act as flashpoints for geopolitical friction. This study analyzes the effectiveness of existing water-sharing mechanisms in the Jordan River Basin amid growing climate-induced hydrologic stress. Integrating hydrological flow modeling with political discourse analysis, we evaluate the allocations established by historical bilateral agreements against actual volumetric extractions recorded from 2000 to 2008. The data reveal a persistent annual deficit of 145 million cubic meters ± 12 million cubic meters between sustainable yield thresholds and actual consumer withdrawals. A statistical correlation analysis confirms that periods of severe drought (standardized precipitation index < -1.5) strongly correlate with an escalation in adversarial diplomatic rhetoric (r = 0.72, p < 0.01). The research demonstrates that rigid volumetric allocations fail to withstand shifting environmental baselines. We argue for a paradigm shift from sovereign water rights to integrated benefit-sharing frameworks, driven by joint desalinization infrastructure and dynamic, data-driven adaptive allocations to mitigate long-term regional instability.

Keywords: water security, transboundary disputes, Jordan River Basin, climate adaptation, hydrologic modeling, environmental diplomacy

Manuscript Timeline: Received December 05, 2009; Revised January 20, 2010; Accepted February 18, 2010; Published March 05, 2010.

Citation: Al-Husseini, T., & Bar-Asher, M. (2010). Water Securitization and Transboundary Dispute Resolution Frameworks in the Jordan River Basin. Global Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, 1(3), 89–96. DOI: 10.46882/2010/GJPCS/000003

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