 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Water Resources and Water Rights-Abdul-Halim Tumeizeh and Sebastian Naslund
Two main sources of water exist naturally in the Wadi El-Far'a,
which are rainfall and springs. The main use of water is for domestic
and agricultural purposes. In this sector, we have begun to locate spatially
where each water system exists, determine type of water system--wells,
irrigation channels, reservoir ponds, and greenhouses--and who controls
these water systems. In this, we have desired to reveal all uses of
the water, whether legal or illegitimate, which will give rise to an
answer to the water shortage problem. Several different methodologies
were used in order to obtain this data--interviews with local people,
past well-drillers, government agencies, as well as regular internet
and library searches. Once data was obtained, some conclusions could
be made: first, the people in control of the water are usually only
a handful of wealthier people, or Israeli citizens. The distribution
of water is not being allocated appropriately. The water shortages are
in part caused by the people presently in control of the water.
Major water shortage issues exist throughout the Wadi el-Far'a. With
such scarce quantities of water, and such major problems in the quality
of water, the ones who control the water have a major influence in the
area. In order to understand the reasons and the solutions to this shortage,
it is imperative to understand who controls and utilizes each water
source. But, who controls the water is a major subject of discussion
and controversy in the West Bank. The Water Rights sector report is
two-fold: first, it is to locate, map and determine ownership of each
water system in their entirety within the Wadi el-Far'a as well as document
overseeing agencies. Secondly, we discuss the complexity of issues related
to water rights and water allocation in this area, while at the same
time developing plans which ensure and protect the water for the local
people of the Wadi. In order to create an environmentally sustainable
plan for the Wadi el-Far'a that will allocate the water in the region
fairly and equitably, we must fully understand who uses and controls
the water.
II. Methodology
Data collection methods range from field observations, GPS (global
positioning system) unit measurements and collection of preexisting
data on the Wadi el-Far'a. The two main people devoted to this section
were Abdel Halim Tomazi and Sebastian Naslund. Abdel Halim, who resides
in Palestine, collected field data for any information previously unknown,
or not available because of political reasons (water quantities is often
a classified subject), such as locations of wells, pools, reservoirs,
and greenhouses. In the field, Abdel Halim used a data collection table
similar to table 1.
|
Water Rights- Point Samples
|
||||||||||
|
Sample Name |
Israeli Coordinates
|
Sample Type
|
Property Ownership
|
Sample Description
|
Volume (V)
|
Discharge (Q)--2000
|
Q-00
|
Q-99
|
||
|
X
|
Y
|
Z
|
||||||||
The format and understanding of the data sheet is as follows:
Sample Name: If the sample has a name (e.g. Ein Faria Spring
is the name of one of the springs), this is the row that name will be
placed.
Israeli Coordinates: Israeli coordinates will be used as the
standard locational medium for the entire project. X is the east-west
coordinate; Y is the north-south coordinate, and Z is the elevation.
Sample Type: The sample type is what type of water resource or
system the sample is. These will range from a wadi, well, spring, mekeer,
canal, irrigation systems, reservoir pools, recreation pools, water
pipes, unused water-mills, and greenhouses.
Property Ownership:This will be the area which describes the
person or persons who owns or controls the water resource or system.
This is the area which describes who has rights to the water. For instance,
the property owner of a canal is the person or persons who has rights
to that canal (and usually the water travelling in it, but not in all
cases); a name would be given if the ownership was private. If the water
system is not private, then the group of people directly in control
of the water will be mentioned. If there is divided ownership, then
this is the location where that is stated.
Sample Description: Additional comments regarding the water system
location (e.g. illegal pumping station).
Volume (V): This column is used to only measure the volume of
a point sample, and so this column will be blank quite regularly, as
it will be primarily for recreation and resevoir pools.
Discharge (Q): This column is dedicated to the average discharges
per year of the water resources; this column may be blank in many areas
(it will not be used for the pools).
Q-nn: This is the beginning of a series of columns in which past
discharges will be placed in order to do a compartive study on past
discharges. The nn indicates the last two digits of the year in which
the average discharge was measured.
Beyond using just the collection
table, Abdel Halim also spoke with many local people and farmers in
the region to fully understand the historical context and ownership
rights of particular water systems. He would often camp several nights
in the area at a time because it was too dangerous and time-consuming
to travel back and forth from his home. His longest stay was 12 nights.
He confirmed the locations of most wells and all the springs in the
area made by previous research in the area; he also made detailed observations
of irrigation techniques, especially regarding citrus fruits last summer.
He made more than 15 visits to the wadi, which was also stimulated by
his work on his Masters Thesis. Abdel Halim began establishing a relationship
with many local people; these connections he established definitely
helped in obtaining the large quantity of data he and would no doubt
be useful if future water-related projects began. He would also ask
for advice and knowledge of the wadi from the locals, bringing a personal
dimension to the project that is usually not present in these types
of academic projects.
On the other hand, Sebastian Naslund researched and collected data conventionally--library
loans, internet searches, meetings with scientists and professionals.
This has proven to be an extremely large task, as water rights in the
Middle East has become one of the largest water issues in the world.
Sebastian has written several papers and spoken for several presentations
related to the Water Rights sector, informing many people about the
project. Information on discharge of wells and springs was located from
the PWA (Palestinian Water Authority) and Marwan Ghanem's work.
Abdel Halim and Sebastian have been in contact several times, and despite
language barriers, a large amount of progress occurred. Email and use
of the teams website has been the main form of keeping each other informed
and transferring data to one another. Internet has proven to have its
problems as well--connections, quantity of transferable data, and availability
within Palestine is limited. A trip in the winter of 2001 was planned,
but did not come to fruition as money was limited and tension in the
region was high. During the 2002 summer field season, these team members
finished collecting data, began analyzing and writing the final report
for this sector.
After data collection was completed, data was stored in Microsoft Excel.
The data was then loaded into the mapping program, Arc view GIS 3.2a,
where final maps were created. One major obstacle that stands in the
way of obtaining data and accomplishing what we would like to is the
fact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The difficulty of traveling,
obtaining data from either Palestinian or Israeli governments, making
simple phone calls, being able to go the site to collect data, and being
able to work in the same location are all aspects that are hindered
by of this conflict. All these aspects cause the retrieval of data to
be a slow cumbersome process that is unknown in most peaceful situations.
Given the situation, we have had to resort to the internet for our main
source of information transferring.
Back to Top
Several concluding
statements can be made about the water rights in the Wadi el-Far'a.
First, it is noticed that even though the entire land is Palestinian
land, Israeli authorities continue to claim equal, if not greater, rights
to the land, and hence the water. Not only do Israeli change the rules
that have governed the land for the past thousand years, but people
with some degree of power (or money) in the region can drill a well
and discharge more water than that which should be allocated to them.
This can be done because of the poor enforcement policies, and the lack
of an enforcement agency, as the PWA, the Palestinian Police, and the
Israeli forces do not prevent or stop illegal activities. So, presently,
those with power have the ability to claim rights to the water without
having any repercussions. Despite this, local Palestinians still strive
to find ways to drink water, feed themselves and raise enough money
to live. In doing this, the local people have developed agricultural
pools to store their irrigation water, recreational pools to earn more
money with little water, and greenhouses to use less water in order
to get higher crop yields. All of these recent developments (last 30
years) are owned and run by the local land owners.