The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the Palestinian Water Authority and the General Administration of Palestinian Meteorology, issued a joint press statement today, Friday, on the occasion of World Water Day that falls on March 22, and World Meteorological Day, which falls on March 23, General, which came this year under the slogan "Water and Climate Change", according to both the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization.
The goal of unifying the slogan for these two global days came, according to the statement, in recognition of the great interdependence between water and climate, and with the aim of coordinating the management efforts of the two sectors, to ensure water sustainability and counteract the effects of climate change, especially as both are essential in achieving sustainable development goals, in addition to working to reduce Natural disasters proactively.
The average Palestinian per capita consumption reached 87.3 liters per day of water in Palestine, by dividing the total quantities of water consumed by the total population. This rate reached 90.5 liters per day in the West Bank, and an improvement over previous years as a result of the completed water projects, which have been able to develop the available resources and reduce waste.
The per capita share in Gaza today reached 83.1 liters, and a decrease of 5.2 liters from last year, as a result of the population increase, and by taking the high pollution rate of water in Gaza, and calculating the quantities of water fit for human use from the available quantities, divided by the population, the per capita share of fresh water reaches Just to 22.4 liters per day. Taking the difference between the individual shares among the governorates, achieving justice in the distribution between the population centers is one of the main challenges facing the State of Palestine. It is worth noting that the average Palestinian water consumption per person is still less than the minimum globally recommended, as a result of Israeli control of more than 85% of Palestinian water resources.
More than 97% of the water quality pumped from the coastal basin does not meet WHO standards.
The amount of water extracted from the coastal basin in the Gaza Strip amounted to 177.6 million cubic meters during the year 2018, and this amount is considered unfair pumping, which led to the depletion of water reserves below the level of 19 meters below the sea level, as well as the overlapping of sea water And wastewater filtered into the reservoir, which made more than 97% of the coastal basin water incompatible with WHO standards.
The above figures foreshadowed a real catastrophe in Gaza, which made the Palestinian Water Authority intensify efforts to save the difficult water situation and mitigate its impact on the daily life of about 2 million residents of the Strip, and it is expected that these indicators will improve in the coming years with the start of water and sanitation projects Sector strategy in place.
77% of the available water comes from groundwater
Palestine relies mainly on water extracted from underground sources, which account for 77% of all available water. The amount of water pumped from underground basin wells (eastern basin, western basin, and north-eastern basin) in the West Bank for the year 2018 reached about 99 million m3. The main reason for the limited use of surface water is the Israeli occupation´s control over the waters of the Jordan River and also preventing the Palestinians from using the water of the valleys.
According to the data of 2018, Palestine started producing quantities of desalinated water, which is expected to increase its percentage in the coming years, with the start of operating desalination plants of limited quantity in Gaza, to increase significantly with the implementation of the central desalination plant program.
22% of the available water in Palestine is purchased from the Israeli water company, "Mekorot".
The Israeli measures contribute to limiting the ability of the Palestinians to exploit their natural resources, especially water, and forcing them to compensate for the shortage by purchasing water from the Israeli water company "Mekorot", where the amount of water purchased for domestic use reached 85.7 million m 3 in 2018, which constitutes 22% of the amount of available water Which amounted to 389.5 million m3, came from 25.5 million m3 flowing water from the Palestinian springs, 274.2 million m3 flowing water from underground wells, and 4.1 million m3 desalinated drinking water.
By subtracting the amount of water extracted from the coastal basin in the Gaza Strip, which amounts to 177.6 million m 3, because it does not comply with the specifications of the World Health Organization, which constitutes 45.5% of the water available to the Palestinians, the quantities of water available for all uses of the Palestinians are only 211.9 million m3 and include in addition to groundwater, Purchased and sweetened water.
The amount of rain is higher than its average during 2019
The data of the General Administration of Meteorology during the year 2019 showed that the amounts of rain ranged between 780 mm at the Nablus station, 137 mm in Jericho station, while the average annual rainfall in Nablus station was 660 mm and in the Jericho station 166 mm. It is worth noting that the amounts of rain were concentrated in most governorates in the month of December.
The temperatures in 2019 are higher than the general average
Meteorological data for 2019 indicate that temperatures have tended to be higher than the average for most stations. The highest increase was reported at the Jericho station by 2.5 ° C, while it was 0.2% below the overall average for Ramallah Station.
Evaporation quantities for the year 2019 are higher than the general average
The data indicate that the evaporation quantities in Palestine have increased in most of the available stations, with the highest at Jericho station reaching 2,416 mm and the lowest at Ramallah Station 1,708 mm during the year 2019.
Nablus is the most wet and least comfortable area
The data showed that the relative humidity for the year 2019 ranged between 43% in the Jericho station and 75% in the Nablus station. God is 87%.
Note: The data in the press release does not include that part of the Jerusalem governorate that was annexed forcefully by Israel after its occupation of the West Bank in 1967.
The water sector is one of the sectors affected by climate change phenomena as freshwater resources - surface and groundwater - become more scarce due to the decrease in the periods of rainfall, and the intensity and temporal distribution of rain, which will make it more difficult to compensate for the groundwater reserves, and that threatens the risk of a low level of groundwater The increase in the cost of extracting water increases with the energy used to extract it. The increasing global warming factors and high evaporation rates will have a direct impact on surface water, as well as an impact on the groundwater quantities. The effects of climate change were clearly visible on the flow of springs, to the degree that some springs were noticeably dry.
Currently, the Water Authority and the Meteorological Department, in cooperation with a number of relevant local authorities, are implementing a number of programs aimed at monitoring and evaluating the effects of climate change, issuing the necessary reports in this regard, in addition to preparing the necessary plans to adapt to the effects of climate change in the future.
