2. Water for Life
Water plays a major role in
humanity’s social and economic
existence.
‘Available water’ : streams, lakes and
groundwater = blue water
‘unavailable’ – constrained in oceans
or polar ice.
‘Green Water’ – water absorbed by
vegetation and returned to the
atmosphere.
6. Relationships between water
development and human livelihoods
Health (hygiene, improvement, disease reduction)
Labour availability (health and less effort required to collect
water)
Cheaper water (compared to commercial vendors)
Improved well-being (more security, less stress)
Education (More time, especially for children)
Empowerment (through greater community decision making)
Income (health and labour improvement raise other
opportunities)
Food security and nutrition (household production
opportunities)
8. Water Scarce Countries
World Water Council (2010): ‘While the world's population tripled in the 20th
century, the use of renewable water resources has grown six-fold. Within the
next fifty years, the world population will increase by another 40 to 50 %. This
population growth - coupled with industrialization and urbanization - will
result in an increasing demand for water and will have serious consequences
on the environment. ‘
UN World Water Development Report (WWDR, 2009) presents an equally
gloomy future with these opening comments, ‘At the beginning of the
twenty-first century, the Earth, with its diverse and abundant life forms,
including over six billion humans, is facing a serious water crisis. All the signs
suggest that it is getting worse and will continue to do so, unless corrective
action is taken. This crisis is one of water governance, essentially caused by the
ways in which we mismanage water.’
9. Water and Development
Social and economic
development are not dictated by
water distribution, although nor
are they independent it.
Mismatches between
development and ‘natural’
distribution are compounded by
changes in hydrological regimes.
11. Chain of climate change uncertainty
for water resource management
12. Hydrological changes that could
impact on water resources
Precipitation intensity increases leading to higher surface runoff
Lower seasonal rainfall leading to drought
Higher temperatures with lower humidity causing plant water stress
Increased potential evaporation
Higher peak runoff
Lower seasonal runoff
Increased glacial meltwater runoff
Sea level rises and coastal flooding with associated saline water
intrusion
Groundwater recharge declining
Increased agricultural (irrigation) demand
Increased domestic water demands
13. Water dilemmas
Science and Economic
Technology: and political
Engineering or capacity to
mobilise
technology.
resources.
14. Enhancing Strategies
up to 1850s – small private (commercial) water supply
companies,
up to 1920s – municipal bodies investing in water and
sanitation measures due to health and environmental
concerns
Up to 1970s – large scale, national control of water
investment and regulation with goals of economic
development and social welfare improvement,
post 1970s – period of privatisation and decline of state-led
economic development.
16. Recognised by 75% as an independent
state.
Not recognised by the UN.
However it has it’s own water regime
and respective management issues.
Palestine: Water Resources
17. The HDI of Palestine
Human Dev Index Rank 114 / (United Nations
0.641
Development
Health (Life Exp.) 72.8
Programme, 2011)
Education Index 0.674
GNI per Capita $2,656
Inequality n/a
Poverty Index 0.005
Gender n/a
Sustainability n/a
Demography (pop) 4,152,400
19. The Political Issues of Palestine
Conflict with surrounding states and associated import
restrictions
Food shortages
Lack of central government
Lack of international recognition as a sovereign state
20. Water Use & Provision in Palestine
Arid region
Only 69% of Palestinian communities are connected to
water networks
Water consumption below WHO’s minimum standard
Restrictions of transboundary water supplies
Dependency on an Aquifer system
21. Palestine’s Aquifer Dependency
Dependency upon an Aquifer
system which discharges 600-
660 Mm3 annually
However West Bank Palestinians
exploit a mere 115-123 Mm3
Israel controls the westward-
flowing aquifers and all waters
flowing eastward into the Jordan
River
22. Predictions of Climate Change in the
Levant
Annual rainfall is likely to decrease,
with proximity to the Mediterranean
Sea.
The last 7 years have already seen
precipitation levels fall.
The Levant is the most effected region
by changes in precipitation in the
Middle East.
4.5°C suggested surface temperature
rise and 25% precipitation decrease by
the end of the century.
23. Downscaling the Effects of Climatic
Change to Palestine
The aquifer system will be severely effected, the
replenishment rate is expected to decrease by up to
60%.
25% decrease in precipitation the Upper River Jordan
catchment.
The Mediterranean Sea is expected to rise, leading to
salinization of the aquifer system.
24. Palestine’s Water Outlook in Relation to
Political and Climatic Pressures
2.5% to 5% decrease in agricultural grain yield by 2080
– exacerbating food shortages.
Lack of political stability inhibits their access to water
resources, restraining adaption to climate change.
In the absence of a clear political structure, there is
no clear water management plan, with or without
respect to climate change.
Increasing price of imported water
They don’t have the economic resources to
desalinize.
25. UN Policy Brief Challenge
Information on Water Resources
For the selected country the water resource environment should be described using
information from FAO Aquastat at,
http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/main/index.stm
online data base
http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/data/query/index.html?lang=en
The data is organised into
Geography and Population
Water Resources (precipitation, total renewable resources)
Water Use (agriculture, industry and domestic).
Irrigation
Conservation
Health
Hinweis der Redaktion
We need water for life. Beyond this fundamental association of water with ‘life’ however, water plays a major role in humanity's social and economic existence. Not only is the management of water needed to enable almost all productive activity, but the need to manage water has historically imposed organisations requirements on human society. AT t a first glance it might seem strange that we are concerned about water use since human activity withdraws less than 10% of available water resource on the planet. ‘Available water’ here means water in stream, lakes and groundwater – sometimes referred to as ‘blue water’ – after discounting the 99% of the worlds water as ‘unavailable’ because it is contained in the oceans or polar ice, falls as rain but is absorbed by vegetation and returned to the atmosphere (transpiration – ‘green water’) before it an drain into aquifers and streams.
