Non-Conventional Water Resources and Opportunities as Water Augmentation to Achieve Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation in the Middle East: Palestine as a Case Study

Abstract

Given that availability of renewable water resources in the Middle East is limited, conflicted, and decreasing, non conventional water resources including desalination of brackish and sea water, use or reuse of marginal water quality sources, rainfall-runoff water harvesting, virtual and physical water transfer and others are gaining an increasing importance, attention, and dependence in alleviating water scarcity in the region. To include non-conventional water sources in a sustainable manner, many efforts need to be made to achieve on one side more efficient and sustainable water supply and on the other side food security, public health, economic and social development, and water environment protection. The implementation of such solutions requires vision, political will and facilitation of successful policy and reform implementation as well as technical, technological, economic, environmental and social considerations This paper is to discuss and analyzes the cumulative influence of
non conventional water resources and opportunities in Palestine through reform policies and technologies to reduce water use, to enhance water conservation and management and to preserve the environment sustainable.