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'''Lessons Learned from the Johnston Plan' … '''Lessons Learned from the Johnston Plan'''
Separating resource issues from political interests may not be a productive strategy when the parties have a history of conflict. Eric Johnston took the approach that the process of reaching a rational watershed management plan:
# May, itself, act as a confidence-building catalyst for increased cooperation in the political realm, and
# May help alleviate the burning political issues of refugees and land rights.
By approaching peace through water, however, several overriding interests remained unmet in the process. The plan finally remained unratified mainly for political reasons.
Issues of national sovereignty which were unmet during the process included:
* The Arab states saw a final agreement with Israel as recognition of Israel, a step they were not willing to make at the time.
* Some Arabs may have felt that the plan was devised by Israel for its own benefit and was 'put over' on the U.S.
The plan allowed the countries to use their allotted water for whatever purpose they saw fit. The Arabs worried that if Israel used their water to irrigate the Negev (outside the Jordan Valley), that the increased amount of agriculture would allow more food production, which would allow for increased immigration, which might encourage greater territorial desires on the part of Israel.
'''Lessons Learned from the 1994 Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty'''
The 1994 Jordan-Israel peace treaty includes a number of useful trades, as the two parties were able to use water storage technology to “enlarge the pie”. Israel was allowed to pump an extra 20 MCM/yr during the winter from the Yarmouk (in addition to the 25 MCM/yr it was allocated each year), in return for a promise to transfer the same amount to Jordan from Lake Tiberias during the summer. The package offered to Jordan two additional value creating opportunities: the first was the building of two storage dams, while the second was a commitment on the behalf of Israel to jointly seek new sources of water for Jordan up to 50 MCM. sources of water for Jordan up to 50 MCM. +
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