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Palestinian water boss reduced to "crisis management"

2008-08-28T00:00:00Z

The occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) continues to suffer from drought, but the head of the Water Authority said that there was a limit to what he could do to help.

"Crisis management is the only strategy that I am able to apply," Shaddad Attili, the head of the Palestinian Water Authority, told IRIN while attending World Water Week in Stockholm (13-23 August).

He said he did not have the power to plan properly for his constituents, the 3.5 million Palestinians in the oPt, as the Oslo Accords left too much control in Israeli hands.

"We have to go to the Israelis to get permission to do projects, like drilling, building reservoirs or laying pipes," Attili said this week after attending a round of negotiations with his Israeli counterparts as part of the 2007 Annapolis peace process.

"It is a very complex procedure," he said, noting that projects have been delayed for over a decade.

Even in the autonomous parts of the oPt, the Palestinians must still bring project proposals before the Joint Water Committee, where Israel can veto plans.

"We suffer the worst"

"We are all suffering from climate change in the region; Israel and Jordan are also affected," said Attili. "But we suffer the worst, because we don't have control over our own resources."

According to an agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians, details of the current talks are kept under wraps so as not to impede progress, but water resources are one of the key final status issues being discussed.

In the south of the West Bank, in Hebron District, where herders and other residents have been harshly affected by the lack of water, some aid groups like the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have stepped in.

"We conducted emergency water trucking for 10 communities in southern Hebron," said Matteo Benatti, the ICRC head in Hebron, adding that the agency was also looking at long-term solutions.

Gaza
While the West Bank situation was bad, the plight of the Gaza Strip was deemed "catastrophic" by Attili.

Uncontrolled pumping from the aquifer in the enclave as well as problems in handling waste water - stemming from financial constraints, historic mismanagement dating back to before the existence of the Palestinian Authority and the impact of the sanctions on Gaza since Hamas seized control - has left the territory with polluted water, most of it undrinkable.

Louay Froukh, a senior water consultant, told IRIN during World Water Week that Gaza was facing an increasing health risk due to the lack of well-functioning sanitation systems.

Many people in Gaza rely on leaky septic tanks, he said.

While the tanks can flood into the streets, they also seep into the groundwater, adding to the pollution.

Jordan: "Suez Environnement" just inaugurated the As Samra new wastewater treatment plant for the Grand Amman

2008-08-28T00:00:00Z

"Suez Environnement" just inaugurated the As Samra new wastewater treatment plant for the Grand Amman in Jordan. As Samra : Build, Operate and Transfer for 22 years of the wastewater treatment plant, with an average capacity of 267,000 m3/d and 95% self-sufficient in energy - operational.

GDF SUEZ Energy International's presence in the Middle East - GDF SUEZ wins power and desalination project in Bahrain

2008-08-28T00:00:00Z

In the Middle East, GDF SUEZ will now have a direct equity interest in over 13,000 MW and 2.5 million m3 of water per day consolidating its position of
leading private power developer in the Gulf region.
Oman
- Al Manah: First independent power producer in the Gulf region - 289 MW -
acquired in 1994 - operational.
- Sohar: 586 MW power plant and 6,250 m³/h water desalination plant -
awarded in 2004 - operational
- Al Rusail: 665 MW power plant, first privatization in the electricity
sector in Oman - acquired in 2006 - operational.
- Barka 2: 678 MW power plant and 5,000 m³/h sea water desalination plant -
reverse osmosis technology supplied by Degrémont, subsidiary of SUEZ
ENVIRONNEMENT (contract won in 2006) - under construction.
Abu Dhabi
- Al Taweelah: Power generation and desalination plant representing 1,
360 MW of power and 16,056 m³/h of water (acquired in 2000) - operational.
- Shuweihat 2 : Power generation (1,500 MW) and desalination plant (454,
610 m³ water/day) - awarded in 2008.
Bahrain
- Al Ezzel: 966 MW power generation plant (contract awarded in 2004) -
operational.
- Al Hidd: Power production and desalination plant, 938 MW and 5,682 m³/
h of water (acquired in 2006) - operational.
Saudi Arabia
- Marafiq: 2,750 MW power plant and 800,000 m³/day of seawater
desalination plant, largest of its kind in the world - contract awarded end of
2006 - under construction.
Qatar
- Ras Laffan C: 2,750 MW power plant and 286,000 m³/day of seawater
desalination plant, contract awarded in Feb 2008, under construction.
SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT presence in the Middle East
In the Middle East, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT is involved through its subsidiary
Degrémont in many projects through BOT (Build, Operate, Transfer) or DBO
(Design
, Build, Operate) making it possible to improve the effectiveness of the
distribution network and to develop alternative resources.
Qatar
- Lusail : a 60,000 m3/d of wastewater reuse plant ; DBO for 10 years
for the 35 km2 seafront real estate development project - Under Final stage of
construction.
United Arab Emirates
- Dubai : DBO for 10 years of the wastewater reuse plant for the
Jumeirah Golf Estates real estate project, with a capacity of 220,000 m3/d of
wastewater for an estimated 900,000 inhabitants - under construction.
Saudi Arabia
- Jeddah: O&M (Operation and Maintenance) for 7 years drinking water
and wastewater services, 5,300 km of potable water networks to repair leaks and
fight overflows from about 1,000 km of wastewater collection networks -
Operational.
Jordan
- As Samra : Build, Operate and Transfer for 22 years of the
wastewater treatment plant, with an average capacity of 267,000 m3/d and 95%
self-sufficient in energy - operational.
- Wadi Ma'In : Brackish water desalination plant that uses the reverse
osmosis process, with a capacity of 135,000 m3/d - operational.

Information Kit on the Safe Use of Wastewater in Agriculture

2008-08-27T00:00:00Z

Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched an information kit on how to safely use wastewater in agriculture during World Water Week celebrations in Stockholm, Sweden, August 17-23. The kit explains how to responsibly and feasibly apply the Guidelines for the Safe Use of Wastewater, Excreta and Greywater in Agriculture and Aquaculture, used by countries worldwide as the basis for regulation and standard setting to ensure safe wastewater management and the safety of drinking water. The Guidelines widely cite from the IDRC co-publication Wastewater Use in Irrigated Agriculture: Confronting the Livelihood and Environmental Realities. The August 18 launch featured a panel of experts including IDRC's Mark Redwood, WHO's Jamie Bartram, FAO's Sasha Koo-Oshima, and the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control's Thor Axel Stenstrom. For more information on the kit and the launch

Adaptation is...Protecting Coastal Communities in Northern Morocco

2008-08-27T00:00:00Z

Morocco's rural northeast coast is increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change - sea level rise, storm surges, and coastal flooding. An international research team led by Morocco's École nationale forestière d'ingénieurs is working in two neighbouring provinces to integrate a better understanding of climate change impacts within development plans and land use guidelines to meet the region's many competing needs.Wedged between the Rif Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, the provinces of Nador and Berkane cradle a number of rural enclaves that depend on fishing, farming, and livestock raising. Centuries of isolation have preserved local language and tradition, but life is hard. Surveys in some communities show average farm household incomes of as little as CA $540 per year. Support from overseas relatives keeps many families out of poverty, but does little to create jobs.

While the southern Mediterranean may draw tourists, the coastal landscape is changing. A new highway will soon run the length of Morocco's north coast. Development pressures are destroying wetlands that act as natural buffer zones against flooding and erosion. As climate change brings more severe and frequent storms and rising seas, the very assets that attract more tourists and investment are threatened. According to Fouad Zyadi of the Environment Ministry, several Moroccan beaches have already been lost to erosion.

Farmers and pastoralists, meanwhile, are coping with less rain, even as the water table grows saline from the incursion of sea water. Water scarcity is now a chronic problem in Morocco, with several consecutive years of drought in this century. In coastal Nador and Berkane, the rains are more frequently torrential when they do come, adding to erosion of the fragile mountain soils.