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.

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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