Water: The Statistics

• Rainfall Data (PHG)
• Analysis of Secondary Source Rainfall Data from the Northern West Bank (PHG)
• Water harvesting (PHG)
• Wells in Palestine, Present Status and Future Aspirations (PHG)
• Water Quality in the West Bank (LAW)
• Existing Water Laws and Regulations in Palestinian Territory (LAW)
• Review of Jordanian Laws Pertaining to Water (LAW)

Currently, some 350 Palestinian wells are in operation in the West Bank. Twenty-three of them, representing 6.5 percent of all the wells, were drilled since the beginning of the occupation. Many wells that had been in use prior to 1967 are no longer functioning because of technical and/or maintainance problems, or because they have dried up.

Since 1975, Israel set quotas limiting the amount of water drawn from each well, and has enforced compliance by means of meters that it installed, with heavy fines imposed for exceeding the quota. Since 1975, Israel has updated the quotas only a few times, and the additions did not keep pace with the growth rate of the population.

Israel prevents or limits Palestinian access to aboveground water sources. It declared a substantial strip of land along the Jordan River, which Palestinian farmers had used for irrigation, to be a closed military area, and five groups of springs were declared "Nature Reserves", where an entry fee is charged.

The neglect and poor condition of water pipes result in a substantial loss of water. An estimated average of 40 percent of the water flowing through pipes in the West Bank is lost by leakage. In Tulkarem, the leakage is approximately 60 percent and in Ramallah, about 20 percent.

The Oslo Accords provides that the amount of water Israeli currently draws from the quifer, shown in the table, will not be affected, and that the Palestinians may pump some 70-80 mcm/y from the aquifer that are not currently utilised, in addition to the amounts presently available to them.

Allotment to Each Side - in Millions of Cubic Meters per Year

Mountain Aquifer (Regions)	Israel*	Percentage	Palestinians	Percentage
Nablus-Gilboa Basin	103	71	42	29
Eastern Basins	40	42.5	54	57.5
Yarkon-T’ninim Basin	340	94	22	6
Total	483	80	118	20

Source: Israeli-Palestinian Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Annex III, Schedule 110, Data Concerning Aquifers, Washington 1995.
* the total amount of water drawn by Israel for use in Israel and the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories, except for water Mekorot sells to Palestinians.