A Review of the West Bank Territory Water Resource Dilemma

In the Middle East, the depletion of water from the natural aquifers and estuaries has created a dire situation. Wars have been fought, natural flows of been diverted and both current and emerging governments have been affected by the importance of water. The Mountain, Eastern and Western Aquifers of the West Bank have been significantly degraded in this region due to over exploitation. These aquifers are karst in description and compare to Floridan aquifer in the southeastern United States. The complexity of West Bank water resource management is twofold: supply water to a region’s people that live on a minimal 50 to 100 liters of water per day and management of a declining resource for future generations. The Palestinian Water Authority (PWA), with significant financial and technical assistance from the international donor community, is responsible for water resource management and operation of the distribution systems. 

The development and expansion of urban areas and the continuous growth in the rural areas has driven water demand past hydro-geological capacity of the aquifers. Examples of the aquifer depletion include natural springs which no longer flow freely in the northern areas of the West Bank and significant fresh water spring flow losses to the low level Dead Sea which did not occur when the Dead Sea had higher water levels. The continuous lowering of water levels in the aquifers by over pumping without sustainable recharge has resulted in increased costs from purchasing pumps to handle extreme depth to water conditions, increased operational costs due to higher electrical consumption to pump the water, pumping system mechanical failures, and lower equipment life expectancies. The information provided will evaluate the supply, demand and management of West Bank water resources and the expectations for improving sustainability of regional aquifers.