1. May 17, 2005 EWRI 2005 Congress, ASCE Conference
Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Irrigation Adaptation to Changing
Water Supply: Palestine as a Case
Study
Marwan Haddad
Professor of Environmental Engineering,
An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine,
Tel. +972-9 2381115 ext. 4473, haddadm@email.com

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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Study Area: Palestine
• Palestine as presented in this paper
consists of the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip
• The West Bank and the Gaza Strip are
those parts of Historic Palestine which
were occupied by the Israeli army during
the 1967 war between Israel and Egypt,
Syria, and Jordan

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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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• Population : Palestinian population
projections reveal that mid year population
in 2003 totaled 3,634,495 persons, of
whom 2,304,825 in the West Bank and
1,329,670 in Gaza Strip

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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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There are 686 localities in Palestine. The localities are
distributed by type as
• 54 urban,
• 603 rural, and
• 29 refugee camps.
These localities distributed by type of authority as
• 107 municipalities,
• 11 local councils,
• 374 village council or project committee, and
• 29 director of refugee camp (additional 76 rural
localities are either not inhibited or joined to larger
locality).

6. May 17, 2005 EWRI 2005 Congress, ASCE Conference
Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Available Water resources :
• Average annual ground water recharge in Palestine is
698 to 708 mcm/yr (648 mcm/yr in the West Bank and
50 - 60 mcm/yr in the Gaza Strip).
• The only surface water source in the West Bank is the
Jordan river and its tributaries. The Palestinian share
in the Jordan River of 241 mcm/yr.
• Since 1967 war and until present, Palestinians were
prohibited by the Israeli army from using the Jordan
river water and their lands and farms located along the
western side of the river were confiscated and the
area was declared as a restricted military security
zone.

7. May 17, 2005 EWRI 2005 Congress, ASCE Conference
Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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The Wall
• Israel's decided to establish a permanent barrier
between the West Bank and Israel in April 2002.
• The construction of the wall subjected
Palestinians to several water vulnerabilities,
including irrigation infrastructure devastation,
impeded access and mobility to water and
irrigation land resources, increased land aridity,
and detrimental effects on community socio-
economic and migration.

8. May 17, 2005 EWRI 2005 Congress, ASCE Conference
Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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The Wall
• Despite the fact that the expansion and
annexation wall is not yet completed and it is too
early to observe many of the social implications
of it,
• and the fact that some of the effects will take
time to become manifest as migration, the
households will first have to learn how it is to live
with the new situation caused by the wall, and
then find coping mechanisms

9. May 17, 2005 EWRI 2005 Congress, ASCE Conference
Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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The Wall
• The Wall is not just a barrier. It consists of
a whole regime, composed of a complex
physical structure as well as practical,
administrative and other measures. It is
being constructed almost entirely in the
Palestinian Occupied Territory - OPT,
including in and around East Jerusalem, in
departure from the Green Line

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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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• It encircles entire Palestinian communities,
including Qalqiliya, a city of 41,000 inhabitants,
in walled, Bantustan-like enclaves,
• The total length of the Wall once completed is
estimated to be 788 kilometers. The Wall will be
constructed in several phases. The majority of
the Wall complex, consisting of multiple
components, varies in width between 30 and
100 meters and up to 8 meters in height

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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Can Separation Walls Make Bad
Neighbors ?

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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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Anchorage, Alaska, USA
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