Gaza water unfit for human consumption: Palestinians

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Water in the Gaza Strip is so salty that it is unfit for human consumption, a Palestinian official in charge of water supplies inside the besieged coastal territory said on Saturday.

"The water is no longer fit for human consumption, with analysis and international studies showing that just 10 percent of water in the Gaza Strip is usable... threatening the lives of Palestinians," Munzir Shiblak warned.

He called in a statement for "the necessary measures to be taken to end the problem of salinity in Gaza water supplies, a problem that is getting worse."

Shiblak called the water situation "critical."

He said the amount taken from underground aquifers last year to supply 1.5 million people with drinking water and for agriculture was 160 million cubic metres, but that natural replenishment was 80-90 million cubic metres.

"The ground water deficit rose to more than 80 million cubic metres last year, and if this situation continues reserves could collapse in the next few years," Shiblak said.

In September the UN Environment Programme also said Gaza's underground water supplies are "in danger of collapse" following years of overuse and the devastating war Israel waged in the territory at the turn of the year.

"Unless the trend is reversed now, damage could take centuries to reverse. Since the aquifer is a continuum with Israel and Egypt, such action must be coordinated with these countries," UNEP said in a report."

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[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[azurnoir]

2. Could you clarify as to who you are speaking of?

exactly what people?

[imdjh]

3. yes

[azurnoir]

4. Can you name the people to which you are referring

I see your post was deleted but you were referring to a group that was presumably living in Gaza and there are too many of that you claimed should not be in Gaza so just whom did you mean?

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[imdjh]

6. Apparently, it cannot be discussed.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. Have to wonder if overpumping has pulled sea water into the aquifer

[Violet_Crumble]

8. Does it involve blaming the Palestinians? If so, it's a goer! n/t

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. Physics matter...it would provide some insight as to why it happened.

Of course the bureaucratic answer is to blame Israel

[Violet_Crumble]

12. The article states why it happened

Unless you have any evidence to the contrary, I'm not at all sure why you'd ignore experts on the matter.

Btw, that comment about bureaucrats is really bizarre. What do you mean by it? It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the topic

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. Very technical material often gets mangled in translation

into soundbites. For that reason I treat it skeptically.

It does indeed sound like an overdrawn aquifer. No word on the Israeli impacts (if any).

[Violet_Crumble]

14. Nothing that was said in the article was questionable

I'd be sceptical if the reasons given didn't make sense, but the thing is they do and you haven't said why they don't make sense.

Can you please answer the question I asked you in my post? You make that reference a lot and it's very strange

[ProgressiveProfessor]

15. Because few reporters understand the details of things they write

and the situation described is very technical. For example the infiltration of sea water and the effect of brackish water on the entire aquifer was not discussed.

Its not restricted to I've seen articles where hunting rifles were called the equivalent of AK-47s, and an light airplane described as a twin engine Cessna 150.

I am not doubting its happening, but key details were omitted.

Reporters are often like their bureaucrat buddies and seek the easy way out.

[Violet_Crumble]

16. Again, there's nothing to be sceptical of ...

AS well as trying to promote yrself as having expertise in water issues, which I am actually very sceptical of, no key details were omitted and you are clutching at straws, imo...

For the third time, why do you keep on referring to bureacrats? Do you get paid for every mention of the word, or is it some very clumsy and rather immature attempt at an isult?

[Violet_Crumble]

18. No answer to the question? No surprise there...

I'll take the silence as meaning it is nothing but a really clumsy and immature attempt at an insult and if you keep on doing it in posts to me I'll alert on them in the hope you might actually at some point decide to contribute to discussions in a constructive and non-abusive way...

[oberliner]

9. There was this claim about Israel trying to steal Lebanon's water during that conflict

Some folks around here were convinced that Israel was going to seize the southern portion of Lebanon so that they could lay claim to the Litani river.

Not sure whatever happened to that theory.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

11. Not really enough information

If the wells have gone salty, its an aquifer issue. We faced something similar in Hawaii and pumping was carefully monitored. It could also mean trouble for Israel since aquifers do not follow international borders.

*IF* that is the issue here, its another indication that Hamas continues to be less than a viable government since it does not seem to understand or try to control a critical issue.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

17. Per capita water consumption facts:

The gap in water consumption between Palestinians and Israelis

The discrimination in utilization of the resources shared by Israel and the Palestinian Authority is clearly seen in the figures on water consumption by the two populations. Per capita water consumption in the West Bank for domestic, urban, and industrial use is only 22 cubic meters a year, which translates into 60 liters per person per day.

There is a huge gap between Israeli and Palestinian consumption. The average Israeli consumes for domestic and urban use approximately 104 cubic meters a year, or 280 liters per person per day. In other words, per capita use in Israel is four and a half times higher than in the Occupied Territories . To make a more precise comparison, by also taking into account industrial water consumption in Israel, per capita use per year reaches 120 cubic meters - 330 liters per person a day - or five and a half times Palestinian per capita consumption....

read on..
http://www.btselem.org/english/water/consumption_gap.asp




From Palestine MOnitor:

Water in Negotiations
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article14

The water sector in Palestine faces a multitude of problems and challenges in improving the effective use and management of their limited water resources. Many of these issues are a result of the stringent Israeli Military Orders which were put in place back in 1967. Consequently, this restricted access has led to the current state of underdevelopment in the water sector and the inequitable allocation of the transboundary water resources between Israel and Palestine. In 1995, as a result of the signing of the OSLO Interim Agree-ment between the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the state of Israel, the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) was established to develop the water sector in Palestine.

In the post-Oslo era, the additional water that was to be made available in the form of self-production as per the OSLO II Interim Agreement has not been fully realized. At the time of the agreement Palestinians only utilized 17% of the mountain aquifers estimated safe yield . Over twelve years on, the Palestinian share of the mountain aquifer has dwindled, despite the fact that the population has increased by approximately 150% in this same period.

In Gaza, the situation is even worse, since the only access to water is limited to the coastal aquifer, which to-day remains in imminent danger of collapse. Essentially none of the available water from the coastal aquifer currently meets the widely accepted World Health Organization water quality standards for potable water. The only additional source of water which is available to the Palestinian Authority comes from the purchase of water from the Israeli Water Company Mekorot. In 2006, the total quantity of water purchased was lim-ited to 50.3 mcm, which makes up for 15% of the total accessible quantity of 333.3 mcm for use by all sectors (domestic, industrial, and agriculture).

Since the OSLO II Interim Agreement took effect, the PWA has been faced with the bureaucratic nature of the Joint Water Committee (JWC) and the Israeli Civil Administration for the approval of both water supply and wastewater related projects in the West Bank. To date, over 140 projects remain pending in either the JWC or Israeli Civil Administration. Of these, a majority of the highest priority water supply and wastewater projects, in regards to strategic and master planning, continue to be held up by the Israelis and have there-fore not been implemented, in some cases for over twelve years.

Despite the lack of attention water receives relative to the other core issues, finding a just resolution is as important to arriving at a lasting peace and a viable Palestinian state as is the removal of settlements or checkpoints. The difficulties surrounding this issue though could be unique from the others in that water usage, conservation and production provide Israel and Palestine the opportunity to work together to face a mutual problem in a scientific, rather than politicized atmosphere. This opportunity however, has yet to be taken advantage of.

Desalination plants map