Using socio-economic indicators for integrated water resources management: Case study of Palestine

Abstract

As recognized internationally the Palestinian territories are among the most deprived countries in the world when it comes to the water resources. This is due to the fluctuating political, social and economic conditions which resulted in very weak institution performance indicators. This chapter used international social and economic indicators and Water Poverty Index (WPI) as a common ground for various indicators as an attempt to build future demand scenarios. An increasing gap was found between water supply and demand. Based on Falkenmark's (286.20 m3/C/yr), Water Availability Index (-0.39) and basic water needs, it was found that water scarcity is the main constraint to life. The conventional WPI-approach showed that availability, access and time were 22.49 per cent, 55.25 per cent, and 6.82 per cent respectively. The corresponding WPI value was 51.63 per cent. However, based on a holistic WPI-approach, the values of R, A, C, U and E were found to be 22.5 per cent, 52.8 per cent, 36.0 per cent, 69.0 per cent and 40.8 per cent respectively. The corresponding WPI was 44.2 per cent when equal weighing (0.2) was used. The WPI for the West Bank was lowest compared to neighboring countries. Moreover, the WPI decreases slightly as population increases rapidly. Finally, increases of 100 MCM/year and/or GDP slightly shift upward the WPI due to a lack of capacity and accessibility to resources. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.