West Bank and Gaza: Assessment of Restrictions on Palestinian Water Sector Development

Background to the Study

Requested by the Palestinian Authority (PA), this assessment is the fourth in the World Bank’s Movement and Access study series The Bank has been providing technical assistance to PWA since 2006 aimed at building capacity to improve its management of water resources. This largely took the form of workshops and learning events for Palestinian stakeholders to share experiences and learn about good integrated water resources management (IWRM) practices. In 2008, with the new leadership in PWA, a more specific request was received to build capacity in this organization.

A preliminary institutional analysis indicated that, while PWA had internal challenges of improving its performance in its role of resource manager and regulator of service provision, an undocumented aspect was the “exogenous” constraints it faced because of the unique nature of Palestinian access to shared water resources with Israel. Constraints to improved performance were therefore at three levels as shown below:

Level I Palestinian Authority Access to shared water resources

Level II PWA Functions of resource management and regulation

Level III Palestinian water users Access to reliable, safe and affordable water services

While the “exogenous” constraints appeared to directly impact Level I, and indirectly impact Levels II and III, there had been no systematic documentation of the consequences on the Palestinian economy and population. The Bank agreed to conduct an objective awareness-raising assessment that would document impacts on project delays; decision-making over access to and control over water sources, wastewater management and infrastructure; livelihoods and coping mechanisms of service providers and consumers; environmental issues; donor activities; and sector dialogue between Palestinian and Israeli authorities and donor community.