CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VIII (2) ContEurVIII2 | Page 97

SHOGHIK TADEVOSYAN
The Groundwater Resources
The main sources of fresh water in the region are the four
groundwater aquifers mentioned above. The Western or Mountain
Aquifer is the most important shared aquifer between Israel and the
OPTs. Generally, the annual yield (recharge) of the aquifer is
approximately 362-400 MCM/y. It should be noted that Israel heavily
exploits the Aquifer (340-430 MCM/y), leaving only about 38 MCM/y
for Palestinian consumption. 48
The other groundwater aquifer is the North-eastern Aquifer,
which, even though is located in the territory of the West Bank, is heavily
utilized by Israel. Thus, the annual sustainable yield of the Aquifer is
around 100-145 MCM/y. Israel exploits about 103 MCM/y, and the
Palestinians about 21 MCM/y.
Finally, the third groundwater aquifer in the West Bank is the
Eastern Aquifer, with an annual yield of 145-185 MCM/y. The Israelis
exploit 50 MCM/y from the wells and 100 MCM/y from the Dead Sea
springs, while the Palestinians use 53 MCM/y from the springs and wells
together.
Table 1 shows the distribution of the groundwater resources
between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) defined by the Oslo II
Agreement and their real consumption. It is revealed that Israel’s
continuous exploitation of the aquifers has led to the uneven utilization of
the shared groundwater resources, with the Palestinians utilizing 14%and
the Israelis 86%.

48 World
Bank, 2018. Securing Water for Development in West Bank and Gaza.
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