Water Resources status in Palestine

1
Water Resources status in Palestine

• Saleh Rabi
• Palestinian Hydrology Group PHG
• Palestinian Environmental Non-Governmental
  Network PENGON
• 2008

2
Water Resources in Palestine

• The main water resources in Palestine are
• Surface Water the Jordan River.
• Groundwater.
• Runoff.

3
Surface Water the Jordan River

• The Utilizing of the Jordan River from the
  riparian countries is as following
• Palestine (0 Mcm/yr).
• Israel (870 Mcm/yr).
• Jordan (325 Mcm/yr).
• Syria (160 Mcm/yr).
• Lebanon (5 Mcm/yr).

• Only 5 Mcm/yr flows into the Dead Sea.
• The total annual flow of the Jordan River is 1320
  Mcm.
• From the Israeli portion, 420 Mcm are transferred
  through the Israeli National Carrier.

4
Groundwater Resources in the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip

• West Bank
• The Western Aquifer Basin (WAB).
• The Eastern Aquifer Basin (EAB).
• The Northeastern Aquifer Basin (NEAB).
• Gaza Strip
• The Coastal Aquifer Basin Gaza Basin.

5
Water Resources in the West Bank

• The Number of Israeli Abstraction Wells 38
  Wells Producing 56.9 Mcm/yr.
• The Number of Palestinian Abstraction Wells 325
  Wells Producing 65.46 Mcm/yr.
• Average Productivity of one Israeli Well 205.1
  cubic meter per hour.
• Average Productivity of one Palestinian Well
  27.6 cubic meter per hour.
• Many of Palestinian Agricultural Wells and
  Springs were dried because of the Israeli Wells.
• Israeli Wells tap deeper aquifer than the
  Palestinian wells do. They extract about 95 of
  the total abstraction of the Western Aquifer
  Basin!!

6
Water Resources in the Gaza Strip

• There are 4,000 wells in the Gaza Strip,
  abstracting 140-145 Mcm/yr and with average
  density of wells 5 per square kilometer.
• In general term, the water level in Gaza Aquifer
  dropped on average of 1.6 meters per year, but
  mostly in the south.
• The annual depletion rate of aquifer storage is 5
  Mcm/yr.
• More than 70 of the aquifer is brackish or
  saline water.
• Many water quality parameters presently exceed
  WHO Drinking Water Standards.
• 60 of reported diseases in the Gaza Strip are
  water related.

7
Supply-Demand

• Total Water Demand (Mcm/yr)

8
Supply-Demand
Gap between water supply and demand
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Palestinian Management Options

• Groundwater Supply Development (Artificial
  Groundwater Recharge, Rehabilitation of spring or
  old groundwater wells and drilling new wells).
• Rainwater harvesting.((CISTERNS)).
• Desalination of seawater and brackish water.
• Demand Management (Rehabilitation water networks
  to reduce leakage, water saving devices, metering
  and tariffs, sectorial allocation).((LOSSES FROM
  30 UP TO 50)).
• Surface Water Development.((CONTROL OVER WATER IN
  WADIS))
• Water Import.???????
• Administrative and institutional management.
•  

10
Institutional Framework of the Water Sector in
PalestineWater Sector Framework

• Three Levels
• Political Level.
• Regulatory Level.
• Operational Level.

11
Institutional Framework of the Water Sector in
PalestineNational Water Council Framework
12
Institutional Framework of the Water Sector in
PalestineMain Stakeholders
13
Israeli Water Practices Affecting Palestinian
Water ResourcesMining the Water of the West
Bank Aquifers

• The Israeli networks of wells around the
  Palestinian boarders are causing sever quantity
  and quality problems for Palestinian water
  resources.
• This dense network of Israeli wells abstracted
  more than 95 of the total utilization from the
  Western Basin.
• The abstraction Palestinian groundwater wells in
  Bardala area has almost ceased entirely since
  1980, and the springs have actually dried out due
  to the tapping of the groundwater by Israeli
  wells.
• In Fasayil area, the six Israeli wells tapping
  the lower aquifer led to the drying up of the
  Palestinian wells since 1993.

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Israeli Water Practices Affecting Palestinian
Water ResourcesSeparation Wall

• The wall is located on the productive zones of
  the Palestinians Aquifers.
• 39 groundwater wells have been isolated from
  their Palestinian communities by the wall with
  an additional 14 wells threatened for demolition
  in the walls buffer zone.

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Challenges to the Sustainable Development of the
Palestinian Water SectorThe Environment
Challenge

• Poor sanitation services, over application of
  fertilizers and pesticides in the agricultural
  sector.
• Pollution to Aquifers and their Environment,
  (SETTELEMENTS)).
• Years of neglect and lack of wastewater treatment
  and management.
• Inadequate cesspools and direct effluent
  discharges to the wadis.
• Solid wastes dumping.

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Challenges to the Sustainable Development of the
Palestinian Water SectorThe Socio-economic and
Governance Challenge

• 40 of the Palestinian communities are not served
  with essential water supply and sanitation.
• 25 of population of the West Bank are without
  proper services of water supply and safe
  sanitation.
• People with no services buy water from tankers at
  3-4 times the average cost.

• Average consumption 50 LPCD, where in some
  location it reaches only 20 LPCD.
• Strengthen water institutions with integrated
  approaches.
• Establish plans, policies and strategies.
• Inadequate cesspools and direct effluent
  discharges to the wadis.

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Challenges to the Sustainable Development of the
Palestinian Water SectorThe Socio-economic and
Governance Challenge

• Water Supply Deficit in the West Bank (2003).

• Purchase Water for Domestic Use in the West Bank
  (2003).

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Challenges to the Sustainable Development of the
Palestinian Water SectorThe Political
Environment and Regional Co-operation Challenge

• The instability of the political environment in
  Palestine has caused delays in both private and
  donor investments in the water sector.
• The Oslo II agreement allowed the Palestinians to
  develop some 80 Mcm/yr during the period 1995
  till 2000, five years later only one-third of
  this quantity is utilized.
• Although there exists about 700 Mcm/yr of
  groundwater resources in the Palestinian lands of
  the West Bank, only around 112 Mcm/yr (15) is
  available for Palestinians.
• The entire region suffers from water problems and
  without regional cooperation that includes as
  well Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, it will be
  difficult to optimize the use of available water
  and minimize the potential negative environmental
  impacts.
• Cooperation should take into consideration the
  protection of water resources from pollution.

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Challenges to the Sustainable Development of the
Palestinian Water SectorThe Political
Environment and Regional Co-operation Challenge

• Cooperation with respect to water rights should
  be based on permanent sovereignty over
  Palestinian water resources, regional safety,
  reciprocal benefits, and good neighborhood.
• Cooperation must concentrate on immediate
  programs to supply water for un-served areas.
• The Palestinians should be as a core party in any
  existing or future projects such as the Dead-Red
  Seas Canal.
• The same is applied for the development of
  additional water resources such as importing
  water, desalination, ..etc.
• The Palestinians seek water from the National
  Carrier to satisfy Gaza water needs.
• Multi Lateral cooperation should include the
  development of sustainable and integrated water
  resources.

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THANK YOU