IRRIGATION AS A FACTOR IN THE GROWTH OF ISRAEL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84-00825R000100490001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 27, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 27, 1957
• Content Type: IM

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Copy No.. 71
GEOGRAPHIC
INTELLIGENCE
MEMORANDUM
CIA/RR-GM-3
27 May 1957
IRRIGATION AS A FACTOR
IN THE GROWTH OF ISRAEL
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND REPORTS
This material contains information affecting the National Defense of the United States within
the meaning of the espionage laws, Title 18, USC, Secs. 793 and 794, the transmission
or revelation of which in any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
CONFIDENTIAL
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 Approved For Release 2000/05/31 CIA-RDP84-00825R000100490001-2
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The State of Israel has operated from its inception on a series of plans
for expansion rather than on haphazard development. The number of people in
the state is an essential consideration to the Israeli Government in maintain-
ing its political development under conditions of Arab numerical superiority
and hostile pressures, and this factor has been carefully programmed, also. L J2
The Jewish birthrate is 29 per thousand -- higher than the 25 per thousand in
the United States and 27 in India -- and this natural increase is being supple-
mented by immigration, which was increased to 17,000 in'l954 and is now at the
rate of 50,000 to 100,000 per year. The total population -- now 1,870,000 --
will exceed 2,500,000 in 1961 if the present immigration rate is maintained,
and for a later date an optimum figure of 4,000,000 is anticipated. 3/
opulation increase is largely contingent
irrigation agriculture is a prime
necessity for national growth. The water supply for irrigation has been de-
veloped not so much with attention to cost but rather in order to keep pace
with planned population increases. 3 Although the Jewish population has
increased 150 percent since 191+8, there has been relatively little change in
the ratio of Jewish people to irrigated land. At present the state is on the
fringe of a water shortage and is reaching the limits of development of the
waters within its borders. Drilled wells in the Negev are not producing
quantities of water adequate for irrigation in the area and are to be supple-
mented by raw Tel Aviv sewerage, water from Yarkon Springs near Tel Aviv, and
eventually by water from the Jordan River. A major pipeline to the Negev has
already been built.
upon water availability.
Israel recognizes that the
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The government has arrived at estimates of irrigable land and of water
available for irrigation. From a mere 0.45 dunams* of irrigated land per Jewish
person in 191+8-49, Israel progressed to 0.62 dunams per person in 1955-56 and is
now using about half the water available in Israel for this purpose. Use of all
available water would fall far short of meeting the avowed goal of supplying
more than twice the present population with 0.92 dunams per person. 5/ Further-
more, only by assuming the most optimistic availability figure and the lowest
permissible rate of water application could all the irrigable land eventually
be used -- leaving no reserve as insurance against crop failure in. years of
unusually low rainfall.
Various aspects of development of water resources have been under con-
sideration since before the creation of the Stake of Israel. By 1955, planning
had reached an advanced stage; and, in some phases of the overall development
plan, construction was well advanced. Included in this plan are (1) drainage
of the Hula swamps; (2) irrigation of the Hula Basin from waters of the Dan
springs; (3) irrigation of the Esdraelon and Northern Coastal Plains (Western
Galilee Scheme) by water from wells and springs, Haifa sewerage, and local
runoff; (4) irrigation of the northern Negev by water piped from the Yarkon
River, Tel Aviv sewerage, and springs east of Tel Aviv; (5) irrigation of the
Tiberias-Beisan area by pumping water from Lake Tiberias and the Jordan River;
and (6) a scheme to conduct water from the Jordan River below Lake Hula into
the Battauf Reservoir and thence through Faluja to the Negev. A plan is also
being carried out, supposedly on a short-term basis, whereby water from the
Jordan River is diverted through a power plant into Lake Tiberias. The lake
serves as an additional reservoir in this plan, and water is pumped in varying
amounts into the pipeline to the Negev.
The entire program has been laid out in stages that, in the Israeli view,
can be reasonably financed within the framework of national goals and can be
*1 dunam = 0.23 acres or 1,000 square meters.
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IRRIGATION AS A FACTOR
IN THE GROWTH OF ISRAEL
Water pipeline-completed
Water pipeline-proposed or under construction
- - - International boundary
- - - - Armistice line
-1-L-r-L..L Canal
33? Note: This mop does not include 22 District Projects
00' which one port of the Master Plon.
Statute Miles
10 20 30
Kilometers
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f 1 no
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25970 5-571
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N E G E V
Jisr B?nnr Yo'qub (Br.)
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31?
30'
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put into operation immediately upon completion. No single stage is dependent
upon future construction, but later stages increase the utility of each earlier
stage. In planning pipe sizes of major conduits, a much larger capacity is
provided than initially can be fully utilized. The first stages of the program
call for the utilization of water that has been estimated to be presently availa-
ble to Israel. In addition, careful consideration has been given to the use of
water from the Jordan and from sources outside Israel. Available reports re-
leased by the Ministry of Agriculture include the use of large quantities of
water from the Jordan River. The potential use of Litani and Yarmuk waters has
also been discussed in connection with the "ultimate development" of Israel,
but these two rivers have been excluded from the Final Report.
Israeli planning makes provision for the handling of Jordan and Litani
waters and for the possibility of diverting the Yarmuk River into Lake Tiberias,
thus permitting the total diversion of the Jordan River above the lake. The
most recent planning reports state that early ground water estimates were overly
optimistic and call for a net import of water into some areas originally desig-
nated as water export regions. By 1960-61, major conduits will be ready to
receive more water than will be available from internal sources at that time.
Israeli planners further state that by 1965 relatively full development of
internal waters will have been achieved and that approximately one-fourth of all
the irrigation water used in Israel will come from the Jordan River. 6/
1. State, Tel Aviv. Dsp 6, 14 Jul 55, Immigration and Settlement -- Policy
and Plans, p. 2, par 2, info 13 Aug 54, C.
2. FBIS. "Premier Reviews 9 Years of Statehood" [excerpts from Independence
Day Speech by Ben Gurion], Daily Report, no. 87, 6 May 57, p. C6; U.
"However, the climax of all the achievements of the state during the 9
years was the augmentation of the population by more than a million
Jews -- the smaller part through. natural increase and the larger part 25X1C
through immigration from all countries of the world."
Stanford Research Institute. Final Report: The Industrial Economy of
Israel prepared for the United States Operations Mission in Israel and
Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of Israel, 8 Jan 55, p. 29,
U.
6. Op. cit. (1+, above). Section 2, "Available Water for Development,," p. 2.
CONFIDENTIAL
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CENTR L INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Geography Division, ORR
Project Inititation emorandum
a o c a efi` Geographic Research
cams Chief, Geo ap y Division
Project Teo? 62,,11?%5
Da' e; 2 J naua 1957
L,
Subject of Proposed Project;
GrowUi of Israel by Watch D ;veloprwnent9
2,-
Statement of Problem: Israeli. plea for population incre?..se and
utilization cannot be satisfied by water presently available in
Israel
aiwr
3.
Requester: Self-Initiated
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ibl
A
..
espons
e
nal; t:
GO/N
5 Kind and Extent of Cooperation Desired f ?ow
D/GC: Simple location map.
6, Estimated Man Hours; Draft and rewrite have taken 64 man ho ars..'
7,, Completion Date: Draft completed 21 December 56.
Form of Final. Publication: CIA/RR-GM
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