Water demand management - A strategy to deal with water scarcity: Israel as a case study

The chapter deals with a potential strategy to combat water scarcities in the Middle East, a condition which might accompany the Middle East socio-economic policies for many years to come. That strategy is defined as 'water demand management', or 'water conservation' as well as the 'increase of water use efficiency'. These three definitions have become a major paradigm shift from the conventional supply management of water to the management of the demand side, producing additional quantities of water for the immediate needs of the society, through the creation of 'virtual' quantities of water, whether by conservation strategies or by increased agricultural and industrial production per unit of water, as well as the import of water intensive agricultural products and decreasing exports of such products. The experience of Israel in Water Demand Management (WDM) is presented as a potential and powerful instrument to enhance socio-economic prosperity and growth with limited water quantities, available for the societies.