Water Imports and Exports

The Palestinian Study Area

          Palestinians control a number of domestic and agricultural wells in the study area.  The productivity of these wells was approximately 12 MCM in the year 2002.  In order to satisfy the domestic needs of the population of the study area, the Palestinian Water Authority purchases water from the West Bank Water Department operating wells inside the study area and from Mekorot company operating wells inside and outside the study area.  The volume of water purchased from the West Bank Water Department was 5.712 MCM, from Mekorot wells inside the West Bank was 2.465 and from Mekorot Wells located outside the West Bank was 7.68 MCM.  In addition, the Jerusalem Water Undertaken (JWU) supplies the Palestinian communities in Jerusalem and Ramallah with 8.3 MCM/yr of fresh water, of which approximately 4.9 MCM were supplied to the Palestinian Localities in the study area in the year 2002.  The total water purchased by Palestinians in the study area was approximately 20.8 MCM in the year 2002.  Of this quantity, approximately 2 MCM of water are sold back to the Israeli Settlements in the Palestinian part of the study area.  The total water imports into the study area was 12.6 MCM in the year 2002.  Map 1 shows the location of water transfer stations from Mekorot to the Palestinian Water Authority.  These locations have meters that record the volume of water supplied to the Palestinian Water Authority.

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The Israeli Study Area

          Water sources in the Israeli side of the study are diverse and include fresh groundwater wells, brackish water wells, surface runoff water, spring water and purified sewage.  An insignificant volume of water is imported and/or exported from outside the study area.

The Jordanian Study Area

          By the middle of the year 2006, Jordan will be exporting approximately 34 MCM/yr of collected storm runoff water to the outside of the study area.  These waters are collected in dams such as Wadi Hassa Dam, Wadi Mujib Dam and Wadi Wala Dam.


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