The political climate in the Middle East makes it impossible to discuss water without addressing the political contexts that have shaped its availability.

Israel’s population has grown from an estimated 806,000 inhabitants in 1948 to around 7.73 million people in 2013 – an increase of more than 800% in 67 years.

The Water Authority of Jordan has developed a policy to allow private initiative in the water sector in the form of private water companies and public-private partnerships.

Rapid population growth in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s drove the Jordanian government to implement a strategy of food security, which in turn led to a sharp rise in water use in the government-supported agricultural sector.

The West Bank experiences significant climatic variation within a very small area. It lies within the Mediterranean climatic zone, which is characterized by winter rain and summer drought. Only the Lower Jordan Valley has a different transitional climate, between dry steppe and the extreme desert conditions of the Dead Sea region. Rainfall is limited to the winter and spring months, mostly between October and April.

Palestine is divided into two physically separated areas known as the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip, with areas of 5,661 km and 365 km respectively. In 2012, the average population density was 456 inhabitants/km² in the West Bank and 4,353 inhabitants/km² in the Gaza Strip …

about 239 MCM or 28% from surface water (of which 50 MCM comes from Israel under the 1994 peace treaty agreement) and about 433 MCM or 51% from renewable groundwater. The remaining amount comes from non-renewable aquifer (fossil) groundwater (about 75 MCM or 9%) and treated wastewater (about 102 MCM or 12%).

Fanack Water speaks to Tawfiq Habashneh, Secretary General of the Water Authority of Jordan, about supplying water to a growing population.