Rehabilitation of a Historic Wetland - Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes - page 75

FIGURE 7.4 Active pumps, transport pipelines, and storage reservoirs used for widespread
aquifer mining. ( Continued )

these illegal wells, with most of the crops being grown, such as olive trees, having high
rates of water consumption. Unregulated hunting for migrant birds and the introduction
of exotic species (mainly fishes) have persisted since the days of the British Mandate.
When I first visited the oasis in the mid-1990s, there was little water for either
birds or local people. Vast areas had begun to dry up, leaving behind nothing but
cracked pans of hardened, sometimes salt-encrusted mud and drought- and salt-
resistant plants (Figure 7.6). Astonishingly, in one year the wetlands actually dried
up completely. It seemed that for all intents and purposes, the demise of one of the