Available
Resources
- Rainfall (average
annual)
- North
- 400 mm
- South
- 200 mm
- Wadis (Surface
Water) - short flash floods which occur after
heavy rainfall
- Groundwater Aquifers
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 Gaza
Strip is located along the coast of the eastern Mediteranean Sea and
stretches over a distrance of approximately 45 km from Beit Hanoun
in the north, to Rafah City in the South. Its width varies between
7 and 12 km, and the total area is about 365 km.Agriculture
is the most important economic sector in the Gaza Strip.
Together,
with parts of the West Bank, it is mostly run by the Palestinian authority.
Substantial portions of the Gaza Strip, (mainly the sites of Israeli
settlements), are controlled by Israel. This aspect of Middle Eastern
hydropolitcs extends far beyond usage statistics, as it encompasses
so many other religious, ideological, and economic cleavages. |
Aquifers
The
ground water reservoir in Judea and Samaria, called the Mountain
Aquifer, is the State of Israel’s largest and most important
water reservoir. Some 600 million cubic meters of water are produced
from it in an average year, about a third of the State of Israel’s
national water consumption. This water is of the highest quality and
supplies the domestic needs of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Beer Sheva, and
most of the cities in the center of the country; it is also used for
irrigation of large agricultural areas along the coastal plain, the
piedmont, the Beer Sheva valley, the Jezreel Valley, and the Jordan
Valley.
The
Mountain Aquifer is divided into three subareas marked on the map
by the numbers 1-3, representing different levels of strategic
importance:
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Area
1: Yargon-Tanninim
The western basin of the Mountain Aquifer, called the Yarkon-Tanninim
Aquifer. This basin today supplies an average of 340 million cubic meters
per year, largely for the domestic use of 2.5 million civilians living
in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and the cities in the center of the country (the
Palestinians today pump an additional 20 million cubic meters a year).
This basin is of prime importance and the Palestinians cannot be allowed
any further drillings in it. The boundaries of this basin have thus been
marked on the map of defense interests (Map #2) with blue dots. Special
arrangements will have to be made in the cities of Qalqilia and Tulkarem,
which are located in this area, in order to prevent further drilling
there. This area largely overlaps the security band, and contains a large
proportion of the Israeli settlement blocs in western Samaria and Benjamin.
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Area
2: Nablus-Gilbo'a
The northern basin is called the Nablus-Gilboa Aquifer. This basin today
supplies an average of 115 million cubic meters a year, largely for agricultural
irrigation in the kibbutzim and moshavim in the northern valleys (the Palestinians
pump an additional 25 million cubic meters a year). Demographically, this
area is one of dense Palestinian settlement (especially in Nablus and Jenin),
and Israel will not be able to control it exclusively. However, regulations
for the ongoing use of the aquifer will have to be agreed upon by both
sides.
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Domestic waste, both from inadequate sewerage and
lack of treatment, is a major source of contamination.
Also, pesticide and fertilizer use severely affect aquifer
vulnerability... |
Area
3: Eastern
The
area in which water may be pumped from the eastern basin. This aquifer
today supplies abut 40 million cubic meters to the Israeli agricultural
settlements in the Jordan Valley (the Palestinians pump an additional
60 million cubic meters a year). This aquifer is of lesser importance
because it supplies water largely to the Palestinians, and it supplies
Israel little water (primarily for agricultural purposes). Nevertheless,
regulations for its use will have to be agreed upon here as well.
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