The Gaza Strip has witnessed a scarcity of rainwater for around two weeks. This winter season is the worst in terms of rainwater availability according to water experts.
Eng. Nizar Al-Wahidi a water and environment expert told the PIC that the scarcity of rainwater in addition to water pollution and the salinity of the aquifer would certainly lead to a water crisis which negatively affects the agricultural aspect explaining that the decrease in rainfall leads to multiplying pests and insects that harm soil and crops.
“The continued decrease in rainwater for two weeks has led to the loss of the main source of the underground reservoir which doubles the consumption of underground water” Al-Wahidi said adding that Palestinian farmers resort to using supplemental irrigation to water the crops that have not had enough rain.
The underground reservoir is the sole source of water in the Gaza Strip on which the citizens depend to meet their several needs as they use it for agricultural and industrial purposes.
For his part the water engineer at the ministry of agriculture Mahir Al-Jamal told the PIC that a farmer needs five cubic meters of water in order for one dunum of land to complete the processes of metabolism and growth during the supplementary irrigation.
“Scarcity of rain increases the accumulation of salts in large areas of the soil as supplementary irrigation with groundwater increases the salts in the soil” Al-Jamal underlined stressing that most of the groundwater is of high salinity which affects the processes of the growth stages.
Al-Jamal pointed out that the lack of rain leads to a deficit in feeding to the aquifer adding that even heavy rain doesn’t reduce such a deficit as it comes with unexpected intensity which accelerates the evaporation of water in the upper layers of the soil before it reaches the aquifer.
He added that climatic changes have created a state of rain fluctuation meaning that the amount of rain varies from one region to another decreasing in some areas and increasing in other unexpected ones.
“No indications yet that the coastal Strip might experience rain in a week which is not a good indicator as it has not witnessed rain for 20 consecutive days at the height of its annual rainy season” Al-Jamal concluded.
