Sustainable development Sustainable development
of the Palestinian water sector of the Palestinian water sector
under arid/semi
under arid/semi - - arid conditions: arid conditions:
an environmental and socio
an environmental and socio - - economic economic approach
approach
By:
Amjad Aliewi
Technical Advisor in the Palestinian Water Authority Amjad.aliewi@hwe.org.ps
Groundwater Governance and Management In Arid & Semi- Arid Climates Sonesta Hotel -Cairo, Egypt
3-8 April 2005
• To introduce the available water resources against water demand issues
• To Highlight the challenges to sustainable development of the Palestinian water sector under arid/semi arid conditions
• To address the issue of improving the
Palestinian water resources and their sustainable management
Objectives
Objectives
Water Resources and Demand Water Resources and Demand
in Palestine
in Palestine
Basin Average (Mcm/yr)
Eastern 100-172
Northeastern 130-200
Western 335-450
Gaza 55-65
Total 720-887
Availability of Water Resources
Jordan River:
Available to Palestine and Israel about 1500 Mcm/yr,
but
We are a riparian with no
Water rights
112 174
286
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Mcm/yr
Municipal and Industrial
Irrigation Total
Estimated Total Water Supply in Palestine
Estimated Total Water Supply in Palestine
Palestinians purchase from Isreali sources about 25% of their total M&I consumption
Agricultural consumes 59% of total water supply in Palestine.Projected Total water Demand in Palestine
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Mcm/yr
Municipal and Industrial Irrigation Total
2000 2005 2010
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Mcm/yr
2000 2005 2010
Year
Water Supply-Demand Gap
Supply Demand Gap
Water Supply – Demand Gap
Challenges to the Sustainable Challenges to the Sustainable
Development of the Water Development of the Water
Sector in Palestine
Sector in Palestine
Demand in Palestine exceeds the available water supply by 336 Mcm/yr in 2005
Agriculture accounts for 59% of total water supply
High rate of population growth, 3-3.5%
Saline intrusion in Gaza and saline up coning in Jordan Rift Valley
Climate change is expected to lead to more irregular and less rainfall creating major constraints for agriculture and water supply
Desertification increases as a result of loosing 50% of the grazing area to Israeli settlements and military camps and “nature reserves”The Environmental Challenge
The Environmental Challenge 1/2
Poor sanitation services, poor management of sewage and solid waste and over application of fertilizers and pesticides in the agricultural sector
Pollution to Aquifers and their environment.
M & I Supply is distributed between Israeli Authorities and the PWA.The Environmental Challenge
The Environmental Challenge 2/2
(as a result of Israeli Security measures) Economy Level
The socio
The socio - - economic and governance challenge economic and governance challenge
1/3 1/3
38% decline in Gross National Income (GNI)
Unemployment that reached 37% (and even higher).
Real per capita income is 46% lower.
Poverty is affecting 60% of the population.
Imports and exports are down by one-third.
Investments are down by 60%
In these circumstance, agriculture plays the most important role to provide subsistence livelihoods and essentials. However, agriculture is constrained by the overall limitations on land and water resources.Social Level
The socio
The socio - - economic and governance challenge economic and governance challenge
2/3 2/3
40% of the Palestinian communities are not served with essential water supply and sanitation.
There is a need to enhance, strengthen and developGovernance and Institution Level
Promote reforms
Strengthen water institutions with integrated approaches
Establish plans, policies and strategies.Financial resources
Information
Gender equality
Capacity building
Participation approaches and partnerships, all need to be
Progress on these levels
The socio
The socio - - economic and governance challenge economic and governance challenge
3/3 3/3
The establishment of the National Water Council (NWC).
In recent months the PWA has also been restructured to report through the Ministry of Agriculture in order to provide a direct access to the Cabinet of
Ministers.
Three regional utilities in the West Bank and a separate one in Gaza. These regional utilities will coordinate their activities with the local government
network
A separate bulk utility is also planned which will take responsibility for the development, collection and transportation of bulk supplies to, from and
between the various regional utilities.
PWA will maintain the critical roles of strategic planning and coordination, policy and planning, integrated resource management, establishment of
standards and regulation
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 between 720-887 Mcm/yr of groundwater resources in the Palestinian lands of the West Bank, only around 112 Mcm/yr is available for domestic and industrial use to 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.The challenge of political environment and The challenge of political environment and regional co
regional co - - operation operation
Improving water resources and demand Improving water resources and demand management in Palestine
management in Palestine
Rain-water harvesting Tanker Supply
Desalination
Ground water supply development Demand management
Environmental protection/conservation Wastewater re-use
Changes to water use policy
Administrative and institutional management
The farmers will participate in the process of reducing the water supply/demand gap by using the harvested rainwater to feed their animals and partially irrigate their farms and gardens.
Tanker supply
40% of the Palestinian water communities are not served with water the served Palestinian communities do not have water available 24 hours a day
Although, this is an accepted measure at the moment in the future this measure should be less important.
The PWA is planning to have 4 large-scale seawater desalination plants in Gaza with total desalination capacity of about 45 Mcm/yr by 2010Rain-water harvesting
Tanker Supply
Desalination
the aquifer over drafting will decrease
Small-scale desalination plants, desalination of brackish groundwater and household treatment plants are recommended for future plans.
New water supplies should be introduced into the Palestinian water sector as soon as possible
The Palestinian water supply system can be increased from the development in all Palestinian aquifer basins except the Gaza Coastalaquifer since this aquifer is already over pumped; rehabilitation of existing wells; springs development; converting Mekorot wells in Palestinian lands to PWA; artificial recharge and exploitation of finite-thickness of freshwater lenses in Gaza.
Development of the Palestinian share in Jordan river.Ground water supply development
Rehabilitation of networks and reduction of physical losses
Internal household plumbing and
use of water-saving and efficient fixtures.
Metering and Tariffs
Irrigation efficiency
Restrictions on water demand for different purposes.
Demand management
Environmental protection/conservation
It is important to bring to an end raw wastewater and all sorts of wastes
(industrial waste, solid waste etc) discharge to the natural environment through implementation and collection and treatment works in Palestine.
Having been collected it should be treated to acceptable standards for re- use or recharge to the aquifer.
The challenge is to make use of this water for agriculture, while minimizing the health risk
All wastewater in the Gaza Strip should be made available for directirrigation as needed or recharge into the aquifer during the off-season. During the winter seasons the reclaimed water
would be stored in the aquifer through the infiltration basins and can be reused by agriculture through recovery wells, particularly in the dry seasons
Wastewater re-use
No increase of freshwater supply to the agricultural sector will be considered beyond the currents levels
Any water saving due to upgrading the agricultural water supply system, to modification of agricultural practices, techniques, or cropping patterns, will ultimately be reallocated to the domestic/industrial sector
Wells and springs in the West Bank are to be prioritised to supply the domestic/ industrial water demand because the groundwater aquifer system offers the best water quality levelThe sustainable development of the Palestinian water resources will require improving the institutional, administrative and legislative capabilities within the water sector
Changes to water use policy
Administrative and institutional management
The per capita water consumption in Palestine is far below that in other countries in the Middle East and the World.
At present water demand in Palestine exceeds the available
water supply. However, this is not due to scarcity of water but it is as a result of political constraints. We do not have the 'right' to
utilize our own water resources.
This growing gap is calling for the utilization of any additional conventional and non-conventional water resources as well as
putting in place water policies based on a sustainability assessment of the water resource taking into consideration socio-economic,
governance and environmental issues.
Conclusions
Conclusions
1/2
This paper provides an assessment to the available water
resources against water demand issues and provides an insight about how to improve the Palestinian water resources and their sustainable management to reduce the gap between demand and supply.
It is recommended to manage Palestinian water resources in an integrated way that includes laws, regulations, tariff
structure regulatory procedures, and a wastewater strategy.
It is important to adjust unsustainable consumption (eg.
agricultural use) of water as well as protect water resources from pollution and support the promotion of reforms and
strengthen water institutions within integrated approaches and improved governance.
