Palestine, West Bank: residents face severe water shortage as drought continues

West Bank Palestinians are suffering a serious water shortage this year as a severe drought has exacerbated already existing supply problems, the head of the Palestinian Water Authority.

Shadad Ateli said since mid-May [2008], many Palestinians have been going without water for hours, and sometimes days at a time, because of a reduced supply as a regional drought enters its fifth year. He called on Israel, which controls some 90 percent of water sources in the West Bank to rethink its water policies. “Water shouldn’t be a part of the conflict. It should be divided according to human needs equally,” Ateli said.

Uri Shani, spokesman for Israel’s Water Authority, says Palestinians are receiving more water than their agreed share under an interim peace deal. The drought has affected Israel as well, with fresh water supplies below their acceptable minimum, but there have been no cases of community water supplies being cut off.

[...]

Current peace talks between the two sides have not touched on water sharing yet, said Ateli, who is representing the Palestinians in negotiations on water with Israel.

West Bank residents use around 15 gallons of water a day, two-thirds of what the World Health Organization recommends for urban needs. In northern villages that number drops to 7 gallons a day. Daily water consumption in Israeli cities is 60 gallons per capita, [Israeli human rights group] B’Tselem reported.

Shani said the Palestinian Authority was not cracking down on herders who steal water supplies – a problem Palestinians acknowledge – and could recycle waste water for agriculture, as Israel does. He said that could boost supplies from 30 to 40 million cubic liters. The only solution to this problem is creating more water, Shani said.

Source: AFP / Haaretz.com, 27 Jul 2008

Yemen: Updating the National Water Sector Strategy and Investment Plan (NWSSIP)

Key decision-makers from Yemeni ministries and water sector organisations as well as donors met in Taiz from 24-26 August 2008 to discuss the draft NWSSIP update prepared by sub-sector groups on Urban and Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (UWSS and RWSS), Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), Irrigation and Institutional Development.

Regarding, IWRM it became clear that the decentralisation of water management needs to be speeded up. National Water Resources Authority (NWRA) branches need to be established and developed and Water User Associations (WUA) empowered. It was decided to address cross-cutting issues such as gender and conflict sensitivity also. Acknowledgement and registration of water rights was seen as an important precondition for an equitable rural-urban water transfer.

The Urban Water Supply and Sanitation (UWSS) discussion focused on how to involve the private sector to increase coverage and reduce operational costs.

Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS), the sector with the highest absorptive capacity, is challenged by sector coordination and planning processes. It was decided that a rural water strategy as well as clear coverage figures should be incorporated into the NWSSIP update.

[...]

It was concluded that institutional assessments need to be made in all the water sector organisations in order to identify capacity development needs.

Germany is one of the donors supporting Yemen’s water sector.

The Yemeni-German Technical Cooperation – Water Sector Program is now entering the final year of its first phase (ending in June 2009). Recently GTZ Head Office carried out an Program Progress Review (PPR) and Independent Evaluation (IE) to assess the performance of the program in terms: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and impact. In addition, harmonisation and alignment were assessed, and challenges and recommendations for the up-coming Phase II of the Yemeni-German Technical Cooperation – Water Sector Program, scheduled to start in July 2009, were highlighted.

“The program is on track and performing well. It is very likely that the objectives will be achieved,” the missions stated. [...] Water sector reform, decentralisation of urban water supply and sanitation – including targeting the poor through special tariffs and connection fees – and decentralisation of the National Water Resources Authority (NWRA) via regional NWRA branches and water basin committees are just some of the concrete outcomes of the program’s work.

Challenges still remain with regard to knowledge transfer to the Ministry of Water and Environment. In addition, gender issues will need more attention in future.

Source: Yemeni-German Water Sector Program, Aug 2008

The GTZ Yemeni-German Water Sector Program and the Swiss Video-lab Jetzt.bewegte bilder have produced an animated awareness video on water scarcity for Yemen’s National Water Resources Authority (NWRA). NWRA came up with Rowyan – an cheery animated raindrop to promote public awareness seen in this clip. He also has a wife called Rowyana with curling eyelashes, handbag and full-length black robe.

Jordan: water scarcity places economic growth at risk

Jordan’s Prime Minister Nader Al Dahabi was in Paris [in July 2008] for the inaugural Mediterranean Union summit, where he [...] highlight[ed] the problem of water supply in the Middle East. In an address given on behalf of the King, Dahabi told delegates, “the region’s demand for water is rising rapidly in tandem with a growing population and an increasingly dangerous water scarcity”.

At a meeting held by the Water and Irrigation Ministry (MWRI) shortly before he left for Paris, Prime Minister Dahabi announced that water security was now the government’s priority.

[...]

A [new] report by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US government-funded programme designed to aid development in emerging markets [...] concluded that water scarcity placed Jordan’s continued economic growth at risk, and that progress on canalisation and conservation was urgently required.

Jordan is among the 10 most water-scarce nations on earth, due to both a lack of natural resources and continued human pressure on the basin of the river Jordan.

[...]

In 2005 an agreement was signed between Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian National Authority to assess the possibility of building a canal to link the Red and Dead seas. A World Bank feasibility study is currently being conducted to determine both the financial and environmental factors involved in constructing such a canal. The cost of the project has been estimated at $2.4bn, with a build time of anything up to 25 years. However, regional tensions have exacerbated efforts to speed up the process, and the RDS (Red Sea/Dead Sea) donor committee, at its recent May meeting faced a $3.5m shortfall to fund the feasibility study.

The canal is expected to eventually provide up to a billion cubic metres of water to the Dead Sea annually, plus 850 million cubic meters of potable water through desalination powered by hydroelectricity generated by the 400m gradient. With no guarantee that it will ever come to light however, in the short term Jordan must find some way of meeting its current water shortfall [such as wastewater reuse].

Source: Oxford Business Group / ANIMA, 30 Jul 2008

UN-ESCWA High-Level Meeting to Promote Water Supply and Sanitation Policies, 15 June 2008

Beirut, 11 July 2008 (United Nations Information Services)– In cooperation with the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and in partnership with the League of Arab States (LAS), UN-ESCWA [held] a high level meeting to “Promote Water Supply and Sanitation Policies and Related Organizational Reforms in Western Asia”, on 15 June 2008 at the LAS Headquarters, Cairo, Egypt. The meeting coincided with the second day sessions of the LAS Ministerial Meeting of Arab Ministers responsible for water resources.

Participants in the meeting included senior officials from UN-ESCWA member countries and ministries responsible for water supply and sanitation. The meeting aimed to review the water supply and sanitation status in the UN-ESCWA region; analyze current situation (gaps, challenges, constraints and opportunities); and propose policy options to expedite achievements of MDGs (Policy, institutional arrangements and proposed reforms).

It also focused on progress made by UN-ESCWA Member Countries towards targets 10 and 11 of MDG 7, i.e. to halve the number of people without adequate water supply and sanitation by 2015. Participants will discuss as well the findings of the report entitled “Regional Assessment Report on the Status and Achievements of ESCWA Member Countries towards Improved Water Supply and Sanitation” prepared by UN-ESCWA.

The aim of the meeting was to support political awareness and organizational change for improving Water Supply and Sanitation, particularly in relation to the proposed observance of 2008 as “the International Year for Sanitation”.

[...]

UN-ESCWA is one of the five UN Regional Commissions. It is comprised of 13 member countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

Source: UN-ESCWA, 11 Jul 2008

Walter Mazitti nominated new EMWIS Steering Committee President

Walter Mazitti was nominated new Steering Committee President of EMWIS, the Euro-Mediterranean Information System on know-how in the Water sector, in Athens on 21 July 2008. He succeeds Pascal Bertraud of France, which has formally handed over the Presidency of EMWIS Steering Committee to Italy.

EMWIS is an initiative of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. It provides a strategic tool for exchanging information and knowledge in the water sector between and within the Euro Mediterranean partnership countries

EMWIS member countries includes all those involved in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership:

• the 27 EU member states,
• the 10 Mediterranean Partner Countries (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey).

Source: EMWIS, 23 Jul 2008

Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Meeting on Water, 29 Oct 2008, Dead Sea, Jordan

Following the proposal of the conference of the water directors of the Euro-Mediterranean and Southeastern European countries, Bled (Slovenia), in December 2007, the Ministerial Conference organised under the French Presidency of the European Union and the Euro Mediterranean Partnership aims to prepare a long-term strategy on water in the region. A day dedicated to civil society will be held on the eve of the ministerial conference (28 October 2008).

The four key themes are:

• Effective Water Governance
• Water and Climate Change Adaptation
• Water Financing, and
• Water Demand Management.

For more information go to the conference web site.

Iraq, Kurdistan: Swedish NGO Qandil to be project leader for water contract

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) plans to support water network management in Erbil City, the regional capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. The project will be managed by the Uppsala-based NGO Qandil, which has been working in Northern Iraq since 1992. The Sida budget for the two-year contract is about SEK 10 million. The project aims to support (managerial and technical skill development) the Directorate of Water Department of Erbil (DOWD) to provide a continuous supply of safe drinking water in one confined block of Erbil City.

Source: Development Today (subscription site), 22 Jul 2008

Iraq: Boost for aid, reconstruction as three-year deal signed with UN

BAGHDAD, 14 August 2008 (IRIN) – The Iraqi government and the UN have signed a three-year cooperation agreement [ UN Assistance Strategy for Iraq 2008-2010] to support Iraq’s reconstruction, development and humanitarian needs, the UN Mission for Assisting Iraq (UNAMI) said on 13 August.

[...]

[T]he agreement will be funded through three primary mechanisms to achieve its key economic and social goals: substantial cost-sharing by Iraq’s government; international support through the Iraq Trust Fund; and the Humanitarian Appeal.

The agreement contains development and humanitarian solutions for better essential social services such as education and water, and protection for highly vulnerable groups.

[...]

Basil al-Azawi, head of the Baghdad-based Commission for Civil Society Enterprises, an umbrella group of over 1,000 non-governmental organisations (NGOs), said “Iraq’s situation is a disastrous one despite the soaring oil revenues.”

“All Iraqis are going through a very deteriorated humanitarian situation with poor public services such as drinking water, sewage networks and electricity, coupled with damage to their environment,” al-Azawi told IRIN.

Source: IRIN, 14 Aug 2008

4th Algeria Electricity & Water Expo, 28-30 October 2008, Algiers, Algeria

“The persistent water shortage in Algeria is hurting national economy especially when it harms agriculture. John Hopkins University predicts that Algeria will have a ratio of water annually of less than 1, 000 cubic meters available water per person in 2025 which makes water one of the main concerns for Algeria’s future.

While water sector in Algeria is languid, there is more demand to import. Thus, 4th AEW Expo offers an effective way for participants to be efficiently involved in this growing sector of Algeria’s water industry where many areas are still left to be explored”.

For more info go to the conference web site.