Water Budget and Water Resources System Analysis
4.2 Water Budget Assessment
4.2.2 Water Consumption and Water Demand by Sector and Water Source
In CSA agriculture is the main water consumption sector in the area in addition to domestic water use. This analysis analyzed consumption based on sector and water source which supplied the main sectors in the CSA.
Domestic Use in Auja Area
In CSA, there are 4,808 residents in Auja Village (PCBS, 2013). In addition, there are about 400 persons classified as Bedouins who live around Auja Spring (Ras Al-Auja and Wadi).
Auja Municipality Council (AMC), 2013. Auja residents are provided their domestic needs through an Israeli water company (Mekerot), which abstracts water from deep wells aquifer in Auja area. On the other side Bedouins provide water for domestic and livestock from Al Auja Spring., However, residents' water consumption in Auja village is illustrated in Table ( 4.7) as follows:
- Total annual water consumption by residents is 367,398m3 (AMC, 2013).
- Water duration consumption could be divided into two cycles, winter and summer cycle.
- In winter, from September till the end of March, the monthly consumption is about 26,000 m3 and over the six month it is 165,942 m3. In summer, the total consumption in six months is 210,456 m3, a monthly average of 35,076 m3.
- The large difference in water consumption between summer and winter indicates other uses of water consumption relative to house and garden crops, especially regular vegetables.
- Loss of provided water through networks has been estimated by 30% of total provided water. This means that only 257,178 m3/a are received, or 140 L/d/cap.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) standards and regulations, the maximum capita water consumption for domestic use is 120 L/day. This assumption means that the real domestic water consumption in Auja Village is 219,000 m3/a while 38,178 m3/A were used for house gardens irrigation.
Table 4.7: Monthly Domestic Water Consumption in CSA, AMC2013
Total 367398 109859.4 147319.2 257178.6 219000
On the other side, 400 Bedouins who live at Auja Spring area consume 15,085 m3/a for domestic purposes and 82,855 m3/a for livestock (GVC, FAO, 2011) from the spring's water.
Crop Water Requirement in the CSA
In general, agriculture water consumption is estimated by 70% of total water consumption all over the world and so is in oPt. In Jericho and the Jordan Valley Governorate, consumption exceeds 90% of total available water. The same case is for the CSA (Auja Catchment), the agriculture sector is considered the dominant sector in water consumption in the area.
Furthermore, crop water consumption in the CSA is affected by irrigable lands area between wet and dry years which increases/decreases irrigable lands based on precipitation distribution and percent. This current situation in the CSA leads for appearing new planting crops in the area like medical herbs green house. On the other hand, other crops like banana fruit disappeared. Banana planted area in 2007 was 966 donums (PARC, 2007), but decreased to only 45 donums in 2013. This degrease points to the decision-makers as part of the problem since they are supposed to provide real solutions for Agriculture Development Strategies while taking into consideration the water availability in terms of water quality and quantity.
Therefore, crop water requirement in the area was investigated to address the following concerns:
In crop water requirement, and for temporary crops (vegetables and medical herbs crops), two seasons have to be considered into annual irrigation schedule in the CSA.
Leaching requirement has been considered in crop water requirement; therefore, for palm date trees, LR is 0.03, while for other crops LR has been calculated by 0.35. Salt resistance
water for these salt resistance crops while fresh water has to irrigate vegetables and medical herbs, in addition to non-salt resistance crops.
Rain-fed irrigation has been considered as part of the total gross irrigation scheme. It is not a direct part of net irrigation system; but the irrigation system could use rain values in calculating monthly irrigation based on soil-water depletion in the CSA. Rain fall average is 120 mm. Calculated effective rainfall in the Case Study Area is 95% (114 mm) of total rainfall in a year, which means about 0.5 Mm3/a as rain value in the CSA.
Modified table (4.8) shows crop water consumption including LR according to the planted crops in the CSA. It also illustrates water quality in terms of EC for all those crops. As such, total CWR with LR for all crops and in winter and summer seasons is 3.65 Mm3/a, while it is about 3 Mm3/a without including LR. The crop type usually defines the LR according to salt resistivity crops. Furthermore, soil salinity and soil texture are additional crucial issues in this topic.
However, palm dates are classified as salt resistance crop. LR for palm dates is only 0.03, therefore, there is no big difference between using fresh or saline water for crop irrigation. In fresh water case it needs 1,026 m3/a/dunom while in LF it needs 1,056 m3/a/dunom. Inversely, other sensitive crops such as some kinds of medical herbs or even vegetables, have moderate sensitivity against irrigation with brackish water in sodic or saline soil. The LR is more than one-third of irrigation requirement (0.35) which makes CWR too high in comparison with salt resistance crops. Therefore, as main results for CWR in the CSA with 100% yield, the CWR is 3.6 Mm3/a/all seasons, including permanent fruit trees, while in winter season the CWR including LR is (2.5 Mm3/a). In summer with LF it is 3.3 Mm3/a. Note the difference between CWR for two seasons and summer season is about 0.3 Mm3 and compared with winter season it is 1.1 Mm3.These remarks are of paramount importance as socio-economic factors as well as for crop productivity and benefits.
Table 4.8 part1 : CWR in the CSA with calculated LR.
Crop Type Etc
Table 4.8 part2 : CWR in the CSA with calculated LR
Livestock Water Consumption in the CSA
Based on Jericho District office data bank of MAO in 2013 and some AMC information livestock in Auja village consists of sheep, poultry and some cows. Poultry is considered the main and major part of livestock which encouraged agriculture companies' projects in the area. Sonokrot company is a live example of poultry in the area, it produces about 500,000 chickens in its poultry farms which consume about 46,000 m3/a of fresh water.
The second main component in livestock in Auja area is sheep house farming. About 1,700 sheep consume 3,723 m3 yearly. However, Table (4.9) shows total consumption of about 50,000 CM/a of fresh water by livestock sector in Auja village.
Table 4.9: Livestock Water Consumption in Auja village.
Animal Species Number of Animals Daily Consumption ( m3 )
Total Consumption ( m3/a)
Sheep 1700.000 0.006 3723.000
Poultry 500,000.000 0.00025 45625.000
Cows 8.000 0.070 204.400
Total 49552.400