(A view of flood water in an olive grove in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, last October. The filthy water killed about 30 olive trees. Photo from Ma’an News).
The regional water crisis has hit the West Bank and Gaza hard, and the Palestinian Water Authority is rushing to repair crumbling infrastructure to maximize the little water available, Ma’an reports.
The first well to come back on line is in the town of Beit Fajjar, outside of Bethlehem, which had been out of commission for three years. In the meantime, the Israeli Mekorot water company had been supplying 5,000 cubic meters a day to the residents of Bethlehem and Hebron. Ma’an reports that the rehabilitation cost $150,000. The repaired well will be part of the Palestinian water network, rather than the Israeli one.
“PWA Director Shadad Al-Atili said that that the three-year shut down of the well resulted from bacterial contamination that resulted when fertilizers from nearby farms seeped into the water supply. He said that Israel had refused to allow the well to operate until lab tests showed that the water was safe.”
The next well repair will be in Al-Rashayda, also near Bethlehem.
Author: Daniella Cheslow
Daniella Cheslow grew up in a car-dependent suburb in New Jersey, where she noticed strip malls and Wal-Marts slowly replacing farmland. Her introduction to nature came through hiking trips in Israel. As a counselor for a freshman backpacking program at Northwestern University, Daniella noticed that Americans outdoors seemed to need to arm themselves with performance clothing, specialized water bottles and sophisticated camping silverware. This made her think about how to interact with and enjoy nature simply. This year, Daniella is getting a Master’s in Geography from Ben Gurion University of the Negev. She also freelance writes, photographs and podcasts. In her free time, she takes day trips in the desert, drops off compost and cooks local foods like stuffed zucchini, kubbeh and majadara. Daniella gets her peak oil anxiety from James Howard Kunstler and her organic food dreams from Michael Pollan. Read more at her blog, TheTruthHerzl.com. Daniella can be reached at daniella (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
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