OUT OF WATER

OUT OF WATER

Planning Water Resources as a Basis for Leveraging an Underprivileged Desert Community

A critical shortage of water for Palestinian agriculture in the Jordan Valley has led to the abandonment of lands, and consequently to unemployment, and to a loss of local culture and landscape identity, as well as to a sense among the inhabitants that “there is no future for living in the area.” The project proposes a strategy for the management of the water resource in the Palestinian settlements in the Valley, based on the vision of enabling independence, equal opportunity and a regional communal-economic future.

Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which are located at the edge of the global desert belt, share natural resources and are both forced to cope with water shortage. While Israel is a world leader, recycling more than 85% of water directed for its agriculture, the agricultural fields in the Palestinian Authority are drying up. These gaps encourage the quest for creative solutions.

The Palestinian village Uja a-Tachta is a test case in which I propose a master plan based on sustainable use of water resources. The plan includes creating a green skeleton for the streets, using greywater systems; touristic and commercial development along Road no. 90; restoration of the ancient water conduits in the village; and the establishment of an agriculture research and development center that will serve as an open public area for the village’s inhabitants and enable regional collaboration in dealing with agriculture in water shortage conditions. The design principle combines engineering and landscape infrastructure, and through the water, leverages various tiers in the village.

In this complex region I see bottom-up activities as the key to success, concurrently with the formulation of a long-term large-scale strategy, which will together build a robust regional system that leans on the values of culture, heritage, environment and co-existence in the Jordan Valley.