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Integrated Water and Waste Management in
Rural Areas in Palestine
Marwan Haddad, Professor of Environmental
Engineering, Visiting Faculty at LBJ School of Public Affairs,
University of Texas,
email:
Abstract:
The
Palestinian water and sanitation sector organizations operate under
severe constraints: poor capacities, high political instability and
uncertainty, and inadequate funds and sources of funding. Previous papers identified need for institutional reforms to
increase the efficiency, performance, and development of Palestinian
water institutions (Haddad, 1998-a) and proposed a new centralized water systems management option, which can lead to optimized
water resource development and a more reliable, safer, and cost
effective water supply and sanitation services and systems within a
clear legal framework (Haddad 2004). Here, and taking in consideration
the continuation of the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian
land and natural resources, the paper is extended to include potential
institutional management approach for optimizing water and wastewater
management in rural Palestine. The
approach consists of creating a village water management committee, VWMC,
representing the groups of interest: the community, the village council,
the NGOs working in the field, and the ministry of local governance or
the Water Authority. VWMC will be responsible for managing fresh water,
wastewater, and solid waste available and/or generated within the
village boundaries including operation and maintenance of the system and
all related financial matters including tariffs and costs.
Author
Keywords: Rural water and wastewater management, Small water and
wastewater systems, water management, water institutions, Palestine.
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