Water Sector in Gaza Strip is living a 

Nightmare

General background

Water is the most precious and valuable natural resource in the Middle East in general and in Gaza Strip in particular. It is vital for socio-economic growth and sustainability of the environment. Natural water sources are divided into groundwater and surface water. Groundwater includes water that seeps into the ground and is collected in an underground aquifer but surface water flows  is collected above ground, such as in rivers, streams, and lakes.

Providing a water supply for a community involves tapping the most suitable source of water, ensuring that it is safe for domestic consumption and then supplying it in adequate quantities. Enjoyment of sufficient water of suitable quality should be classified as a human right. However, human rights documents do not expressly relate to such a right. The problem of water scarcity in urban areas of developing countries is of particular concern as the water quantity available for supply is not sufficient to meet the demands of the population which forcing people to collect water individually, by means of ground or roof tanks.  

Although it is impossible to set a standard and accepted quantity of water necessary to meet basic needs, a few principal criteria exist. A person requires from three to five liters of water a day to exist in the narrow meaning of the term "human subsistence". The World Health Organization and the United States Agency for International Development recommend one hundred liters of water per person as the minimal quantity to meet basic urban needs[1].

Israel and the Palestinians share two water systems, groundwater and the other surface water. Since the beginning of Israeli occupation, in 1967, the demand for water by Palestinians has increased significantly due to a high influx of refugees in 1948, when approximately 200 000 people fled to Gaza. The original population of the Gaza Strip at that time was 80 000 people, thus this represented an increase of some 250%[2]. The total population of the Gaza strip was estimated in the year 2002 at 1,299,403 inhabitants and the fertility rate was estimated at 3-3.5%[3]. This rate plays a big role in the planning and management of water resources.

Figure1. Projection populations in the Gaza Strip 1997-2025[4]

However, Israel's strict control of the water sector in the Occupied Territories, unequal division of the shared ground water and exploitation of new water sources has prevented development to meet the increasing demand for water, causing a water shortage and crisis.

Despite international water resources shared by Israelis and Palestinians, the right of Palestinians to share these resources was not recognized in practice, and the division gradually became discriminatory and unfair.

Israelis benefit from advanced and reliable infrastructure for the supply of water for domestic use, enabling them unlimited water consumption for all domestic and urban uses. By contrast, Palestinians in the Occupied Territories suffer from an underdeveloped and unreliable water-supply system for domestic use.

Water resources availability in the two neighbors is far apart, with fresh water per capita in Israel about four times that of West Bank and Gaza. Whereas Israel is known for efficient water infrastructure, Palestinians are struggling to attain the most basic level of infrastructure and services of a low income country.

Since the second Intifada in 2000, Israel’s restrictions on movement and access of goods both within West Bank and Gaza and through Israel to the rest of the world have had dramatic impacts on the Palestinian livelihoods. The effects of these restrictions are far-reaching, as they impair planned development, private sector initiatives and livelihoods across all sectors.

Present water supplies are neither adequate to provide acceptable standards of living for the Palestinian people, nor sufficient to facilitate economic development as a result of the limitation on supply and restrictions on developing new water resources and supply infrastructure. The limited water resources in the Palestinian governorates face the challenge not only to supply the various water sectors with their water demand, but also has to secure water to meet the increasing needs for people in the future.

Many environmental problems are accelerated and exacerbated by Occupation practices, which prevent effective environmental management.  The one fact that is indisputable, however, is that the Palestinians have no decision making power in their own water future. The present situation of water sector in Gaza Strip and the challenges to be faced are:

·            Water resources in the region are extremely scarce and disputable.

·            Water demand is continuously growing.

·            Water supply and sanitation services are inefficiently delivered and inadequate.

·            Tariffs are generally inadequate.

·            Consumption and water losses are excessive.

·            Insufficient water harvest activities.

Current situation

The Gaza Strip is a very small area of land - with a total area of only 360 km² - was considered of great strategic importance as the first source of freshwater north of the Sinai Desert.  It is underlain by a shallow aquifer, which is contiguous with the Israeli Coastal Aquifer to the north as shown in figure 2.  Gaza is the downstream user of the Coastal Aquifer system, and hence water abstraction in Gaza does not affect Israeli water supplies the flow of Gaza aquifer is illustrated in figure 3. 

Depth to water level of the coastal aquifer varies between few meters in the low land area along the shoreline and about 70m along the eastern border. The coastal aquifer holds approximately 5x10⁹ m³ of groundwater of different quality. However, only 1.4 x10⁹ m³ of this is fresh water, with chloride content of less than 500 mg/l. This fresh groundwater typically occurs in the form of lenses that float on the top of the brackish and/or saline ground water. That means that approximately 70% of the aquifer are brackish or saline water and only 30% are fresh water[5].

The major source of renewable groundwater in the aquifer is rainfall. Rainfall is the main natural water source that replenishes the groundwater aquifer, but it is no longer sufficient to refresh the groundwater system. Rainfall is sporadic across Gaza and generally varies from 400mm/y in the North to about 200mm/y in the south as shown in figure 5.

This aquifer is essentially the only source of fresh water in the Gaza Strip that has been continuously over-pumped to serve the high population resulting in falling water levels and degrading water quality due to seawater infiltration, caused by the over-pumping that had been taking place[6].

        Figure2. Water resources of Israel/Palestine along the Jordan River[7]

 

Figure3. Hydrologeological cross section of the Gaza Strip aquifer[8]

 

Figure4. Flow direction of the groundwater in the Gaza Strip after 1995[9]

 

Figure5. Rainfall sporadic over Gaza Strip

In 1994, water resources in the Gaza Strip placed under the control of the newly formed Palestinian Authority and in 1995 the Palestinian Water Authority was formed and given the mandate for managing water in the Palestinian Territories.  At this time it was widely recognized that there was a serious environmental problem with the Gaza Aquifer and the water infrastructure was in a very poor state, with 50 % of water being lost through leaking pipes[10].

The coastal aquifer net balance is estimated by Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) in 2011 as follows.The total estimated inflow to Gaza aquifer of 96 – 101 MCM per year is composed of:

·            Recharge from precipitation 40-45 MCM per year.

·            Return flows from leakages 16 MCM per year.

        .   Return flows from irrigation 20 MCM per year      .               

·            Lateral inflow from Egypt and Israel 15 MCM per year.

 The total estimated outflow of 171 MCM per year reflects:

.  Municipal abstraction 89 MCM per year.

.  Agricultural abstraction 82 MCM per year.

So the total aquifer deficit is about 70 MCM per year

This over abstraction has led to a deterioration of water quality including high levels of salinization from sea water since the amount pumped from groundwater is much higher than the natural replenishment of the groundwater aquifer.

If uncontrolled pumping is allowed to continue the aquifer, which is the primary source for the Gaza Strip, will become unusable as a source of fresh municipal water and most agricultural extraction will be too saline for crop irrigation and threatens the long term sustainability of important water resources which will also impact upon future generations.

Moreover, the natural means of water-table replenishment in Gaza has been prevented due to Israel’s construction of an earthen berm between the Hebron Hills and Gaza Strip which diverts runoff to its natural destination ( from east to west).

So Gaza Strip is undergoing a humanitarian crisis which is violations of the human right to water that have been caused or exacerbated by the sanctions and blockade. It is in critical situation that requires immediate efforts to improve the water situation in terms of quality and quantity and a serious water management strategy in the Gaza Strip. There are only two additional sources of supply. The first is rainfall collected individually by families on roofs of their houses. The second source is water purchased from Mekorot four percent of total supply in the Gaza Strip.

Unlike the West Bank, the worst problem in the Gaza Strip's water sector is not the shortage or irregular supply during the summer, but the poor quality of water flowing through the pipes. The poor condition of the water seriously affects the quality of life of the local residents and exposes them to severe health risks.

Border closures and conflict have now led to severe deterioration of water supply reliability. Since 2005, water supply has become very intermittent and has fallen to crisis levels, largely due to the deteriorating political and security situation which curtails access to power, fuel and spare parts. The private sector and households are coping through unlicensed wells and small scale desalination. Following the December 2008/January 2009 military offensive on Gaza, all conditions have worsened. Damage to infrastructure has had important consequences for service delivery, and substantial rehabilitation is required.

To overcome the water deficit in the future, many scenarios and solutions have been proposed by or to the PWA such as reuse of treated wastewater for agriculture, imported water from neighboring countries. Transportation of water from Turkey through water tanker ships was another option. Local alternatives such as brackish and/or seawater desalination has been focused on, but all of these options are depending mainly on the socio-economic criteria.

Suggested solution

Gaza cannot supply itself but must find new or alternative sources of water, which could be derived from bulk importation, desalination, and waste water reuse.

The Plan based on increased supply from local aquifers together with desalination as the two supply sources, construction of a water carrier from the West Bank and improving wastewater treatment to allow it to be used for irrigation and managed aquifer recharge.

The strategies proposed to overcome the problem of water crisis can be summarized as following:

·      Investigate the efficiencies of the existing water supply networks and identify the existing water supply problems.

·      Save water and reduce the rate of waste.

·      Develop improved water supplies and cropping systems to better utilize water resources.

·      Develop a legislative system aimed at restricting water extraction.

·      Improvements in the efficiency of the water supply distribution system to lower the leakage.

·      The Palestinian water rights should be secured.

·      Establish water institutions that are able to govern and manage water effectively and should be strengthen.

·      Implement a combination of water supply and demand measures.

·      Agriculture sector should be reform and modernize.

·      Protect water quality and enhance the sanitation sector.

·      Collect water in storage tanks to be used in non-supply hours.

·    Manage water as an economic commodity to achieve efficient use, encourage conservation and protect water resources.

·  Improve wastewater treatment to allow it to be used for irrigation and managed aquifer recharge.

·      Identify illegal connections and convert to legal status.

·      Launched public awareness programs about the importance of water resources.

·      Familiarize farmers with and facilitate the use of water saving techniques.

 References

[1] The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, 2000. The Water Crisis in the Occupied Territories and its Resolution in the Final-Status Agreement, July.

[2] Information Clearing House by Alice Gray, 2006. The water crisis in Gaza, September.

[3] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), 1999. Population in the Palestinian Territory, 1997- 2025. Ramallah, Palestine.

[4] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), 1999. Population in the Palestinian Territory, 1997- 2025, Palestine.

[5] Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, 2008. The impact of sanctions and the blockade on the human right to water and sanitation in Gaza.

[6] World Bank , 1993.  Developing the Occupied Territories – An Investment in Peace. 

[7] Palestinian Academic Society for the study of International Affairs (PASSIA), 2002.

[8] Metcalf and Eddy,2000.

[9] Mohamad R. AL-Agha & Hamed A. EL-Nakhal, 2004. Hydrochemical facies of groundwater in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. Department of Environment and Earth Science, The Islamic University of Gaza, Palestine.

[10] Palestinian Water Authority (PWA), 2003. Quantities of Water Supply in the West Bank Governorates.