From Water Scarcity to Sustainable Water Use in the West Bank, Palestine

The West Bank in Palestine is situated in the central highlands of Palestine. The area is bordered by the Jordan River and the Dead Sea in the east and the 1948 cease-fire line in the north, west and south and covers a total area of 5,800 km. It is a semi-arid area with limited water resources; the main water resource for Palestinians in the West Bank is groundwater. The per capita water availability, equal to the water use for all purposes, is 50 m/cap/year according to which the West Bank is considered an extremely water scarce area. Although the Palestinians can hardly meet their needs now, the situation will be even worse in the near future because of the expected increase in the population and developments in the social, commercial, industrial and environmental sectors. The political situation in the area is making the water issue in the West Bank even more complicated. Since 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank, the water resources are controlled by Israeli military orders which have severely restricted the Palestinian use thereof. The Palestinians are denied access to River Jordan Water. Moreover, there is inequitable distribution of the water resources in the area between Palestinians and Israelis; the per capita water use, for all purposes, of the Israelis is six times that of the Palestinians. In addition, the future water allocation between Palestinians and Israelis is unclear. In addition to the politics-driven water scarcity situation, the common way of dealing with water in the West Bank does not help either. Water is used and disposed off without considering further uses. In most cases the used-water, or what is called wastewater, is discharged into the wadis (dry riverbeds) without any type of treatment, reducing water quality and, therefore, reducing availability of good quality water. Distribution systems are leaking and where water is available consumption figures are high at the expense of areas lacking water services. The present study is based on the premise that the existing condition of Israeli control of the Palestinian water resources will continue during the projected study period through 2025.This is the worst case scenario. However, if more water would become available, the increased availability of water is expected to ease the water scarcity situation. In short, the West Bank suffers from extreme water scarcity, has (for political reasons) less water than is naturally available, follows the "use and dispose" approach and anticipates an increase in the demand for water for reasons of population and economic growth. Therefore, the West Bank urgently needs a radical shift away from the present approach to water to one in which water is looked at as a scarce resource, in need of careful management so as to arrive at a situation where domestic, agricultural and industrial needs are satisfied within the limited water resources available and the environmental impact of used-water is significantly reduced.