Water Resources Management of Qalqilia Governorate
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Date
2018-01
Authors
Bara’ Abu Tabikh
Barham, Reem
Shawahni, Mariam
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Abstract
Water is defined as the liquid that descends from the clouds as rain, forms streams, lakes, and seas, and is a major constituent of all living matter. It’s used for drinking, agricultures, industrials and many other activities.
Water Management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and managing the optimum use of water resources. In an ideal world, water management planning has regard to all the competing demands for water and seeks to allocate water on an equitable basis to satisfy all uses and demands.
Much effort in water management is directed at optimizing the use of water and in minimizing the environmental impact of water use on the natural environment. Successful management of any resources requires accurate knowledge of the resource available, the uses to which it may be put, the competing demands for the resource, measures to and processes to evaluate the significance and worth of competing demands and mechanisms to translate policy decisions into actions on the ground.
Palestinians are one of the most water poor and water stressed people in the Middle East. The area has the lowest per capita water availability. And there are few incentive for wise and efficient use of this critical resource.
Allocation and management of water resources should be included in the peace negotiations to fulfill the growing water demand of the Palestinians in all sectors.
In a semi-arid area like Palestine which has a limited amount of potable water, wastewater treatment becomes an essential matter to protect the environment and to save large amount of water which can be used in agriculture and industry.
It’s imperative at this time of transition & political change in the West Bank that the status of environment be examined. During the almost the last 30 years of Israeli military occupation of the West Bank, little attention was given to natural resources or environmental protection. Through these year, and continuing today, the Israeli policy is to use natural resources of land and the water in the West Bank for Israelis, without consideration for the need of local
Palestinians communities. Thousands of dunums of Palestinians lands have been confiscated and continue to be confiscated to build Jewish settlement and by-pass road. Israel still controls 70% of the land of the west bank. West Bank water resources are exploited by the Israelis while the supply of water to the Palestinians is limited to a small amount. Five years after the initiation of peace process in Madrid, Palestinians are still suffering from the Israeli policy of land control. While the world waits for true peace to grow out of a handshake on the white house lawn, Israel is using time to continue its creation of new reality in the West Bank, a reality of continued control. Palestinians still hope that these issues will be solved in the continued negotiation, while, in actuality, these facts on the ground may leave the Palestinians with little land and water on which to build their state.
Nowadays water shortage is one of the real challenges facing many countries in the Middle East region. The West Bank, Palestine is a unique place where water scarcity accompanied by largely fluctuating political events and conflicts result in a complex matrix of interrelations that need careful and intelligent ways of adaption and management .
1.2 Project Objectives
This project deals with Qalqilia Governorate. Water Problems in Qalqilia Governorate are many and ranges from lack of water supply. Networks to high un-accounted for water to lack of enough water supplied or available.
The main objectives of the project are to:
1. Analyze water resources system for Qalqilia Governorate.
2. Study the existing conditions and the estimated future water gap for the year 2037.
3. Decide whether the existing water resources are sufficient for the future demand and if Not what are the alternative solutions?
4. Propose an investment plan that will include all water network component needed to cover water needs for the next 20 years.
5. Develop a provision for waste water collection, treatment and reuse facilities.
1.3 Project Motivations
The motivations of the work are:
1. The fast growing population, urbanization and the expansion of development and economic activities that imposed pressure on available water resources.
2. Importance to understanding the extent of the existing problems in the water sector in Qalqilia Governorate.
3. Give the decision makers a vision that can help them in planning and managing the future.
4. Contribute to developing water resources and water supply system especially in unserved communities.