Running Dry

Many areas of the West Bank suffer from a chronic lack of water, especially during the hot and dry summer season. The lack of water results from a combination of a natural depletion of water resources and a competition for water with Israeli settlements in the West Bank where water frequently flows in abundance to water farms, gardens and swimming pools. Palestinians have devised a number of ways to overcome water scarcity, including drawing water from ancient wells, filling plastic bottles from wells known to be unclean, as well as trucking in water tanks. In Dheisheh refugee camp outside Bethlehem, the water pressure is so weak in the summer due to lack of water that the houses higher up in the camp can go for weeks without running water from June to September, forcing the residents to store water in any available containers. Click on an image to view full size.