connecting colony wastewater to Palestinian plants against the wishes of
the Palestinian Water Authority – and proceeding with construction of the
only water project Palestinians vetoed in the JWC.152 It also appropriates
more from the Mountain Aquifer than it was allotted in the Accords,
withdrawing more than the aquifer’s sustainable yield by over 50 percent.
This has left Palestinians with access to only the remaining 13 percent,153
while in reality they are currently able to extract no more than ten percent.154
In July 2017 the PA and Israel reached a new water agreement that will
increase the amount of water that Palestinians in the oPt can buy from
Israel. Israel will extract water from the Red Sea and after filtering it in a
desalination plant in Jordan, the water will be diverted to Israel, Jordan
and the oPt.155 With the new agreement Israel will sell 32 MCM to the PA,
22 MCM will be for the West Bank for 3.3 shekel [$0.91] per cubic meter,
and 10 MCM will be sent to the Gaza Strip for 3.2 shekel [$0.89] per cubic
meter.156
Lack of Water Supply
The discriminatory access to the aquifer and illegal exploitation of the
aquifer has resulted in an insufficient water supply for Palestinians,
forcing the PA to buy aquifer water from Mekorot, Israel’s national water
company. The PA now relies on Mekorot for almost half of the West
Bank’s domestic water, which it must purchase at a price set by the Israeli
company.157 This amount is still far below the amount required by the
population, more so as Mekorot reduces Palestinian supply by up to 50
percent in the summer in order to maintain comfortable water allocation
to Israel and Israeli colonies.158 As Palestinians in the West Bank have a
finite amount of water they receive per year, this means that the PA must
152 Id., 17-18.
153 EWASH, “EWASH concerned by water restrictions in the West Bank resulting from Israeli
discriminatory policies,” press release, 21 June 2016, available at: http://www.ewash.org/sites/
default/files/inoptfiles/160621%20-%20EWASH%20PR-%20Water%20Restrictions%20West%20
Bank%20Result%20of%20Israeli%20Discriminatory%20Policies.pdf
154 EWASH, Water and Sanitation in Palestine, 2016, available at: http://www.ewash.org/sites/default/
files/inoptfiles/160314%20%20WATER%20AND%20SANITATION%20IN%20PALESTINE.pdf
155 Dalia Hatuqa, “Water deal tightens Israel’s control over Palestinians,” Al Jazeera, 1 August 2017,
available
at:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/07/water-deal-tightens-israelcontrol-palestinians-170730144424989.html
156 Ibid.
157 Elizabeth Koeth, Water for One People Only: Discriminatory Access and ‘Water-Apartheid’ in the OPT,
al-Haq, 2013, 45, available at: http://www.alhaq.org/publications/Water-For-One-People-Only.pdf
158 Id., 48.
42
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