Gaza suffers annual freshwater deficit

The Palestinian Water Authority has warned of the dangerous situation of freshwater in the Gaza Strip due to increasing salinity and the decline of aquifer levels, Quds Press reported on Friday.

In a press conference, the head of the water authority in Gaza, Yasser Al-Shanti, stressed that the annual freshwater deficit in Gaza is 110 million cubic metres, noting that the 2 million people in Gaza need 200 million cubic metres of freshwater every year.

“Gaza suffers from a sharp decline in the quality and quantity of freshwater,” he said.

The groundwater wells have witnessed a sharp decline in the water level which in some areas reached up to 15 metres below sea level.

Al-Shanti stressed that Gaza’s population mainly depends on groundwater as a source of freshwater, noting that this natural reservoir was affected by the increasing urban sprawl.

Based on an earlier UN report, Quds Press said that the Gaza Strip is expected to have no freshwater valid for human use by 2020 due the increasing salinity, pollution and the continuing effects of the Israeli siege.