British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume I - Page 393

CHAPTER X.

13. In the new Ordinance the Palestine Government would be empowered to regulate and distribute the water in accordance with the titles and appropriations in the Water Register. After the execution of an irrigation scheme there should be surplus water at the disposal of Government. This would come from the balance after satisfying all the titles, from additional water gained by development of the source and by storage works and water-proofing of channels. This water would be available on payment of a water rate for agriculture, for fish breeding, or for industry. As the draft stands at present, it is not proposed to charge a rate for water which is found to be the subject of an existing right.

14. If any water during the inquiry were found to have been merely farmed out by a speculator who has no land, or who has more water than he can use on his land, such water would be taken over by the Government and there is provision for compensation to be paid. The Government would also be empowered to take control if necessary over the lesser distributories of a system, and to require cultivators to keep these in repair. These clauses are taken from the apposite legislation in India, which is based on long and varied experience of the difficulties encountered in this connection.

15. The third Ordinance aims at the control of underground resources of water. It is only necessary to read the publications of the United States Government and agricultural bodies in America to appreciate the need not only for research, which entails legislation to enable the Government to collect the necessary information , but also for measures to enable Government to control the exploitation of the underground resources, lest failure to plan and regulate the use of the water source should cause irreparable loss.

16. Palestine seems to be remarkable for a phenomenally low run-off. A large proportion of the precipitation percolates into the ground. In America on the high plains east of the rocky mountains, it is recorded that 99% of the precipitation runs off or is lost in evaporation and transpiration. In the Santa Clara valley in California which apparently is quoted in America as a classic example of the consequences of failing to control the exploitation of underground water resources, the water table is dependent for its recharge on percolation from intermittent storm-fed streams rising in the mountains. Measurements showed that three quarters of this run-off raced non-stop to the sea, and only one quarter sank into the soil; eventually efforts were made to hold back the run-

Page 393