Internationally, a water availability below 1,000 m3 per person per year is defined as water scarcity, while below 500 m3 is considered “absolute scarcity”. Jordan’s lack of water resources impacts the country’s economic growth, political stability and national security, but also public health.

In 1997, the World Bank described the water situation in Gaza as an “emergency state of affairs”. Yet nearly 20 years on, the levels of pumping have only increased, pollution has worsened and large parts of the water infrastructure in the area have been damaged or destroyed. Why was Gaza’s “emergency state of affairs” left to deteriorate beyond the point of repair?

The Ministry of Water and Irrigation further outlined in 2008 its focus on improving water supply to the domestic and industrial sectors and on reducing demand in the agricultural sector. While in 2013 agriculture still used about 53% of the country’s total water budget,

, in February 2015, the US government provided a grant to the Jordanian government to launch a public awareness campaign in the Zarqa Governorate, in conjunction with water and sewage projects overseen by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation.

1- Amnesty International, Troubled Waters – Palestinians Denied Fair Access To Water, 2009. Available at: http://www.amnestyusa.org/pdf/mde150272009en.pdf  2- FOEME, Towards a Living Jordan River: An Environmental Flows Report on the Rehabilitation of the Lower Jordan River, 2010. Available at: https://www.globalnature.org/bausteine.net/file/showfile.aspx?downdaid=7273&domid=1011&fd=0  3- Palestinian Water Authority, Water Resources Directorate, Gaza Water Resources Status Report, 2013/2014, December 2014. Available at: http://goo.gl/P2gbu7 4- […]

Water quality in the West Bank is generally considered acceptable. There are no serious indications of pollution in the deep aquifers. However, there is some contamination of water in the shallow aquifers that are part of the Mountain Aquifer.

A crippled economy, poverty, high unemployment and significant dependence on international aid affect most Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza. These are all outcomes of Israel’s strict control over the movement of people, goods and water between and even within the Palestinian territories.

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 …