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Article

Rainwater Harvesting for Sustainable Agriculture in High Water-Poor Areas in the West Bank, Palestine

1
Water and Environmental Studies Institute, An-Najah National University, 62451 Nablus, Palestine
2
Soil Physics and Land Management Group, Wageningen University, 6708 Wageningen, The Netherlands
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Water 2020, 12(2), 380; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020380
Submission received: 5 December 2019 / Revised: 19 January 2020 / Accepted: 20 January 2020 / Published: 30 January 2020
(This article belongs to the Section Water Use and Scarcity)

Abstract

In most arid regions of the world, the increasing agricultural water supply–demand gap jeopardizes sustainable agricultural development and, as such, undermines local food security. In such situations, unconventional water resource practices such as agricultural rainwater harvesting (ARWH) can be potentially used to tackle agricultural water poverty (AWP). This study aims to integrate AWP and agricultural rainwater harvesting suitability (ARWHS) maps to identify locations where ARWH can be of the most benefit to the West Bank, Palestine. These maps were developed under the GIS environment. The weighted overlay summation process (WOSP), supported by the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), was utilized. Research findings of the AWP map indicate that high to very high AWP covers about 61% of the study area, whereas, the findings of the ARWHS map shows that highly suitable ARWH areas cover 65% of the total study area. Further, 31% of the study area has highly suitable sites for the implementation of proper ARWH techniques. Finally, the combined mapping between the ARWHS map and agricultural lands indicates that high to very high ARWH-suitable areas cover 53% of the rough grazing areas (62% of the entire West Bank area). Thus, the implementation of proper ARWH techniques in such areas is seen to be a sustainable water management option for achieving agricultural sustainability and, accordingly, improved food security in the West Bank, Palestine.
Keywords: agricultural rainwater harvesting; agricultural water poverty; agricultural rainwater harvesting suitability; sustainable agriculture; GIS; West Bank (Palestine) agricultural rainwater harvesting; agricultural water poverty; agricultural rainwater harvesting suitability; sustainable agriculture; GIS; West Bank (Palestine)

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MDPI and ACS Style

Shadeed, S.; Judeh, T.; Riksen, M. Rainwater Harvesting for Sustainable Agriculture in High Water-Poor Areas in the West Bank, Palestine. Water 2020, 12, 380. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020380

AMA Style

Shadeed S, Judeh T, Riksen M. Rainwater Harvesting for Sustainable Agriculture in High Water-Poor Areas in the West Bank, Palestine. Water. 2020; 12(2):380. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020380

Chicago/Turabian Style

Shadeed, Sameer, Tariq Judeh, and Michel Riksen. 2020. "Rainwater Harvesting for Sustainable Agriculture in High Water-Poor Areas in the West Bank, Palestine" Water 12, no. 2: 380. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020380

APA Style

Shadeed, S., Judeh, T., & Riksen, M. (2020). Rainwater Harvesting for Sustainable Agriculture in High Water-Poor Areas in the West Bank, Palestine. Water, 12(2), 380. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020380

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