PALESTINE WATCH: MONITORING AND ASSESSING THE LANDS OF GEOGRAPHIC PALESTINE

Since water is a scarce resource in the Middle East, freshwater streams are extremely valuable. Wadi el-Far’a, approximately 20 km in length, between Nablus and the Jordan River, is one of the primary sources of freshwater in the West Bank and is therefore a valuable resource to the Palestinian people. An institutional partnership study, between Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI) and Birzeit University (Bir Zeit, West Bank), has as its objective: (1) to produce an environmentally-sound (sustainable) and socially-just plan to develop the water supply of the Wadi el-Far’a for sustained use by the Palestinian population, and (2) to bring together a multinational team using this project to develop collegiality and enhance peaceful mutuality.

However, uncontrolled pollution, inadequate storage and inefficient allocation hamper optimum and sustainable utilization of the resources within the Wadi el-Far'a. Through desk research, personal interviewing, field observations, water sampling, and GPS monitoring, the team continues to study and monitor the areas physical, historical and socio-political environment in order to propose recommendations for sustainable water use, land-use, historical site preservation, and pollution. Data collection began in early 2001 and will continue for several years. Despite political instability, the team has succeeded in continuing field data gathering and in keeping communication lines open to assess new data.

The region is bounded by faults and folds, mountains and valleys, while the valley floors are filled with fertile, erodable and permeable soils (loess and terra rosa soils). The surface water is owned and controlled by individuals, businesses, and/ or the government, but laws regarding the groundwater quality and distribution are negligible. Because land use patterns are not monitored, various pollutants are introduced into the groundwater and the aquifer. The many well-water samples have shown unacceptably high levels of coliform and inorganic elements (Na, Mg, K, PO4). Many samples, field notes, pictures and maps have been held up in the West Bank during times of uprisings and revolts, shellings and curfews. Although this political instability has slowed the planned work, the team's courageous persistence has enabled steady progress, promising a return field season in the summer of 2002.