Water as a Human Right: The Palestinian Occupied Territories as an Example

This paper deals with water as a human right. It examines several international agreements which refer to water as a human right to review whether these agreements are legally binding to states that signed them and/or became members to them, and whether water is considered in these instruments as a ‘human right’. These documents pertain to both branches of international law, in time of peace and in time of war. The paper then examines the ‘status of water’ in the Palestinian Territories occupied by Israel since 1967 in order to evaluate Israel's attitude towards water in these territories and whether it respected the right of the Palestinian population to their water rights.     

水事纠纷中水事义务转让的法律分析

水事纠纷不仅有权利纠纷,还有义务纠纷,对水事纠纷的概念不应只从权利的角度来解释。水事义务转让是与水权转让相对应的另一类水事关系转让。对其进行了简单的法律分析,对其法律依据和现行水事义务转让法治化的困难作了简要阐述,最后通过对湖南省道县向阳坝水电站的灌溉义务转让纠纷案例,进行水事义务转让的法律分析。     

Privatization of Sanitation and Desalination Projects in Palestine

Abstract

The present problems that are related to water and sanitation in Palestine are many and varied, and the disparity between water supply and demand is growing with time due to the rapid population growth and aridity. Desalination has the potential to supply unlimited quantities of high-quality freshwater to Palestinian Communities. On the other hand, the situation of the sewerage system in the cities is extremely critical, and there are no sewerage systems in the rural areas. There is an urgent need for substantial improvements and extensions to the sewerage systems and treatment plants. The available funds for the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and other municipalities to implement wastewater and desalination projects are limited. As a result, it is important to fully explore the use of public-private partnerships that utilize sector resources to finance such projects. The objective of this study is to understand incentives for privatization of water supply and sanitation services, with more emphasis on the households' Affordability and Willingness-to-Pay (AWTP) for improved water and sanitation services. The results show that people in Palestine bear the burden of high water supply and sanitation costs. Privatization of the water and sanitation sector will guarantee sustainable development of these sectors under limited financial resources and dependency on external funds.     

Right to Water: The Millennium Development Goals and Water in the MENA Region

It is difficult to imagine a more basic human need than water. Still, around one billion people lack access to safe drinking water. Among these, 15 million are in North Africa and 23 million in West Asia. Whether these people should have the right to water seems to be a cumbersome discussion that has lasted decades. This paper analyses the current situation in water services in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), by reviewing the status of achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals. Although one Target (10) implicitly mentions water supply services, it is crucial to appreciate that water is related to almost all other Targets too. On average, the region is making relatively good progress in meeting Target 10. But the discrepancies between countries and between rural and urban areas are vast. Many countries have huge coverage shortcomings and show very little, if any, progress. The other Millennium Development Goals and Targets complicate the picture as they bring further, often massive strains to the water sector. The future outlook is somewhat cloudy since the MENA region has witnessed an economic and social development in the past decades which is far below the world's average, and this tendency may not change much in the near future. Therefore, the right to water seems to remain a distant dream to several tens of millions of people in the MENA countries in coming years.     

The United Nations Concept of Water as a Human Right: A New Paradigm for Old Problems?

Water history reveals millennia-old struggles over the ownership of water, the pollution and depletion of water sources, and conflicting water uses. What is new is the scale of these problems, particularly access to water for the poorest of the poor. This paper discusses the various conceptual responses to the water problématique, including the commodity, public and social approaches. The human rights aspects of the latter are analysed in some detail in light of the recent General Comment on the Right to Water by a United Nations body. The paper argues that countries have international legal obligations, to respect, protect and fulfil this right without discrimination, that carry clear implications for policy and practice. While the report does not argue that this human right requires the complete decommodification of water or that it provides a ‘magic bullet’ solution, it seeks to show the benefits of a human rights approach and provides some suggestions for implementing the right at the local, national and international levels.     

Wastewater Reuse as Means to Optimize the Use of Water Resources in the West Bank

Abstract

The increase in demand for the limited raw water resources in the Palestinian Territories has led to the proposals for use of treated wastewater as one alternative for alleviating water shortages and for optimizing the use of water resources. Wastewater reuse is a multi-discipline and important element of water resources development. Wastewater usage releases high quality water for drinking and other purposes. Quantitative, economic, and social aspects related to wastewater reuse in the West Bank are discussed. Through analyses of the estimated cost and expected water quantities, the paper investigates the economic feasibility of wastewater reuse. Social acceptance is elicited by means of questionnaires, which have been applied to farmers and inhabitants in different areas of the West Bank. Wastewater reuse can compensate for about 10 percent of irrigated agriculture, which contributes 35 percent of the total value of the Palestinian agricultural sector. The paper presents an analysis of the main aspects of wastewater reuse and defines an approach to the beneficial use of wastewater as a component that should be considered in the strategy for the overall management of water resources in the Palestinian Territories.     

The world water crisis: ramifications of politics trumping basic responsibilities of the international community

The international community has limited support for Third World countries that apply politically unacceptable measures to their water crises. For political reasons, the community also selectively dismisses international instruments governing military actions, the United Nations Charter and the International Law on Water, worsening the crises. The Middle East conflict offers testimony where instruments have been continuously violated, allowing expropriation of the water of weaker nations and groups. Israel, with a population twice that of the Palestinian territories, uses 95% of the fresh water utilized in Historic Palestine, leaving 5% for the Palestinians. Though alarmed with Aral Sea conditions, the community ignores the polluted lower Jordan River, the declining Dead Sea and the destruction of the Palestine aquifers. Middle East agreements will set precedents for addressing international water crises. The community must reverse its past silence and provide equitable, effective reallocation of the Middle East's resources. It cannot afford to leave a destabilizing legacy.     

A Financial,Environmental and Social Evaluation of Domestic Water Management Options in the West Bank,Palestine

Water is one of the most valuable natural resources in the West Bank, Palestine. Due to its limited availability, it is a resource that needs particular protection. Although agriculture consumes most of the water (70%) in the West Bank, the domestic water supply is strategically not less important. It is the aim of this study to evaluate domestic water management options suitable for Palestinian conditions that contribute to achieving water sufficiency in the domestic water use in the house of tomorrow. A number of options were evaluated economically, environmentally and socially using the concept of life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). Results of the study showed that by introducing a combination of domestic water management options, a substantial decrease in the water consumption of more than 50% can be achieved, thereby reducing the pressure on the scarce water resources. The annual environmental impact of the in-house water use can be reduced in the range of 8%, when using low-flow shower head to 38% when using rainwater harvesting systems. Some of the options (faucet aerators, low-flow shower heads and dual flush toilets) were found to be financially attractive with a pay back period of less than their expected lives, others (rainwater harvesting, graywater reuse and dry toilets) were found to be financially unattractive because of the high investment. In the social context, it was found that introducing such options can improve the quality of life of those not having enough water. There is already a popular willingness to take part in water conservation in the domestic sector in the West Bank. The strongest driving force for using water conservation measures is the awareness that water is a scarce resource. It was concluded that, theoretically, the house of tomorrow can be largely independent in terms of water and sanitation. Education and awareness campaigns in the context of water management with a focus on non-traditional options are key to achieve such a house.     

Groundwater Resources and International Law in the Middle East Peace Process

Abstract

Next to issues of land, water resources are the major bone of contention in the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. The objective of negotiations is de facto setting the clock back to the eve of the Israel War of Independence, when the Jews accepted the 1947 UN resolution of partition, while the Arabs rejected it. The Arabs now accept the principle of territorial partition, but at the same time, they demand re-apportioning of resources, mainly of water. The Palestinians contend that the facts created on the ground unilaterally by Israel during the last 50 years, namely the agricultural development and the high water consumption by the Israeli urban sector, leave them without resources necessary for their development as a modern society. Per capita annual renewable freshwater resources in the region is among the lowest in the world. Approximately 600 million m³, or about one-third of the regional fresh groundwater consumption, is annually abstracted from aquifer systems recharged at the uplands of the Upper Cretaceous partly karstified carbonate formations of Judea and Samaria, terrenes often referred to as the West Bank. Israel and the Israeli agricultural settlements established within Judea and Samaria use 495 million m³/year (or 82.5 percent) of the abstracted water, leaving to the Palestinians the remaining 105 million m³/year. Thus, while the recharge zone to the Judean and Samarian aquifer systems are within the territories with an overwhelmingly Palestinian majority, most of the discharge occurs through water wells within the Israeli administration. The situation is reversed in the Gaza Strip, where Israel allows underflow of only 7 million m³/year of groundwater across the border, a less than 10 percent contribution to the nearly 80 million m³/year overdrawn water budget of the area. The issue of water is complicated by glaringly wide disparity in per capita water consumption between the two nations. While lines on the ground may separate two nations with conflicting territorial ambitions, apportioning of groundwater between Israel and the future Palestinian State proves to be one of the most intractable issues in the Middle East Peace Process. Moreover, neither international nor domestic law provides an adequate answer to questions of ownership or rights.     

Water as a Human Right: Towards Civil Society Globalization

This paper aims to shed some light on the meaning and implications of the notion of water as a human right. The transformations of how water was viewed and acknowledged in the 20th century are addressed in light of globalization and the emergence of the concept of water as a social good with an economic value. The relevance of ‘water as a human right’ to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be discussed. Water governance and its implications on human rights are discussed to demonstrate the necessity for strengthening water governance models and set-ups to ensure the appropriate implementation of water as a human right. Conclusions and recommendations are outlined with an emphasis on the value of seeing the synergies in the three-global visions which are water for people, food and nature.     

浅析水资源水权与水利工程供水权

水资源水权与水利工程供水权实质是水权的两个方面。水资源水权是国家的政治权力；水利工程供水权是所有者的财产权力。水资源水权的实质就是全面收取水费，水利工程供水水权就是水费变水价。两种水权承担的义务分别是治理弃水（洪水等）、防治退水（废污水等）。要确保防洪安全，水环境洁净，加强水的统一管理。     

The Right to Water

The intellectual origins of the term ‘the right to water’ can be traced to some of the proclamations of international conferences, and it gained currency from the interpretation of an international treaty. Currently, the right to water has become part of the common parlance on water issues, and not only among jurists. From a legal point of view, clarification is required in order to describe the right's content, those who are obliged to grant it, and the mechanisms by which it can be claimed when denied; equally, it has to be differentiated from certain of the contents of traditional water law, such as the communal use of water, that are conceptually distinct. Proposals are taking place to incorporate the right to water into Spanish law in the knowledge, however, that the concept is most applicable in Third World countries that will inevitably require international cooperation in order to comply with it.     

水权分置与流域和谐发展

流域作为一种区域概念,它的经济、社会、环境协调发展对于建设社会主义和谐社会具有重要意义。从水资源产权的概念和内涵出发,分析了对流域水资源产权进行初次和二次分置的措施、方式和意义,并在此基础上给出政策意见:要促进流域上下游、左右岸、干支流的和谐发展,必须健全和完善流域管理体制,培育水权二次转让市场,利用政府和市场的协同力量实现水资源分配公平和效率的统一。     

Water Quantity and Quality in the Zerafshan River Basin: Only an Upstream Riparian Problem?

In discussing the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention, McCaffrey (1998) gave a theoretical example of the late-developer problem. This paper complements that theoretical example with a real case study of the Zerafshan basin in Central Asia. While McCaffrey addressed the water quantity issue in his example, the focus here also includes water pollution. The aim of the paper is to analyze some of the provisions of the mechanisms in the field of international water law—the Helsinki Rules and the UN Watercourses Convention—for water quantity and quality aspects, as well as to provide an insight into the basin regarding these two aspects.     

新环境保护法对强化水资源管理的作用与启示

全国人大常委会审议通过的新环境保护法在很多方面有重大创新和突破,建立了对经济技术政策的环境影响评价制度,强化了有关部门监测信息公开义务,建立了环境资源承载能力监测预警机制;赋予了有关部门查封、扣押的权力,建立了跨区域联合防治机制、"黑名单"制度等,完善了公益诉讼制度;设置了更加严厉的法律责任,创设了按日连续处罚和连带责任,增加规定地方政府及有关部门主要负责人"引咎辞职"的政治责任。这些规定对于水资源管理具有重要作用和启示,在水资源管理工作中应当积极运用该法有关规定,借鉴相关制度,完善相应的法规和政策措施,推进最严格水资源管理制度的有效实施。     

Compliance Mechanisms of International Water Agreements

Abstract

This paper reviews two compliance system mechanisms in the context of the U.S.-Mexico boundary waters regime—the international treaty obligations for public access to information and justice. A case study approach is used to analyze and compare the primary legal documents in the system, discussing compliance mechanisms of the international water regime and the free trade based international environmental regime. These two regimes provide important compliance mechanisms to ensure that the States fulfill their obligations to the citizens of their respective countries.     

Regulation reform process and perception in the Palestinian water sector

ABSTRACT

The study analyzes the regulation reform process of the Palestinian urban water sector. It introduces the holistic reform agenda and examines the water supply sector’s performance and regulation challenges. The study also evaluates the perception of water service providers regarding the regulation reforms. Collected evidence indicates a dominant interpretation of the regulation concept based on rules and legislation, coupled with a neglect of aspects like monitoring, economic regulation and managerial accountability. The lack of awareness of the benefits of these aspects for service providers can increase resistance to reform and reduce willingness to participate in implementing comprehensive sector regulation.     

International Investments in the Water Sector

This paper presents the main results of a detailed study carried out on Official Development Assistance (ODA) and international private investment in the water sector from 1995 to 2004. Publicly available datasets from the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), the World Bank, and the Human Development Reports were collected and stored in a database. ODA programmes were analysed individually to separate the water and sanitation subsectors. The study includes a comparative analysis of public and private international investment, focusing specifically on sanitation. It assesses the success of private participation in the sector and evaluates cross-cutting issues in ODA water programmes.     

Water as a Human Right: The Understanding of Water in the Arab Countries of the Middle East

The international community has affirmed the human right to water in a number of international treaties, declarations and other documents. Most notably, the United Nations (UN) Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted in November 2002 a General Comment on the Right to Water setting out international standards and obligations relating to the right to water. Based on the UN concept of water as a human right for selected Arab countries in the Middle East (Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon), the paper analyses if and to what extent these concepts are acknowledged. It aims to identify the scale of knowledge of and commitment to the UN concept in the region, and the main areas of concern in each country regarding water as a human right. The paper summarizes the main challenges facing strategic and coordinated action towards the UN concept of water as a human right, identifies what types of processes and institutions need to be developed to meet the challenges of the concept, and provides best practice examples from countries that have shown innovation. Objectives and priority ideas for activities of non-governmental organizations are recommended.

Water as a Human Right: The Understanding of Water in the Arab Countries of the Middle East

All authors

Simone Klawitter & Hadeel Qazzaz

https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620500036414

Published online:

22 January 2007

Table 1.?Egypt: evaluation of the UN criteria

CSVDisplay Table

Water as a Human Right: The Understanding of Water in the Arab Countries of the Middle East

All authors

Simone Klawitter & Hadeel Qazzaz

https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620500036414

Published online:

22 January 2007

Table 2.?Palestine: evaluation of the UN criteria

CSVDisplay Table

Water as a Human Right: The Understanding of Water in the Arab Countries of the Middle East

All authors

Simone Klawitter & Hadeel Qazzaz

https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620500036414

Published online:

22 January 2007

Table 3.?Jordan: evaluation of the UN criteria

CSVDisplay Table

Water as a Human Right: The Understanding of Water in the Arab Countries of the Middle East

All authors

Simone Klawitter & Hadeel Qazzaz

https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620500036414

Published online:

22 January 2007

Table 4.?Lebanon: evaluation of the UN criteria

CSVDisplay Table

     

加入WTO对水利利用外资结构的影响

通过对水利利用外资现状的分析，阐述了加入WTO对水利利用外资结构的影响。水利利用外资的主要来源是世行贷款，主要安排的项目是防洪、灌溉等以社会效益为主的甲类项目。加入WTO对水利利用外资结构的影响有：①有利于促进水利利用外资方式及范围的多元化；②水利利用外资区域迅速扩大；③有利于提高水利行业利用民间投资和外资的深度和广度。为克服一些外资投资的不良影响，必须优化水利利用外资结构，可采取以下措施：①加大世行及其他国际金融组织贷款的力度；②加大水利利用外资的市场机制运作，规范政策指导；③根据水利产业的投资偏好，选择具体的外资投资主体。水利利用外资应建立在充分利用内资的基础之上，将外资投向建设资金短缺的中西部地区和经济效益明显的水利项目上去。加入WTO后，水利行业应以灵活的策略加快对外资流向的引导，真正实现外资在经济活动中的示范效应。