On November 26, 2009 Mrs. Dima Nazer, from Hebron, Palestine, fiercely and successfully defended her PhD-thesis 'From water scarcity to sustainable water use in the West Bank, Palestine'. Her promoters were Professors Pieter van der Zaag and Huub Gijzen, and Maarten Siebel, PhD.
After completing her MSc study in 2002, she formally started her PhD research in 2004. Dr. Nazer’s thesis starts with a description of the present water situation in the West Bank, where only very limited resources are available to the Palestinians population. Subsequently, the thesis describes how the present use of water can be reduced.
In the domestic arena, water reduction can be achieved by means of reducing the wastage of water during distribution, through the use of various types of water saving features including dry toilets, by - as much as possible - reusing (grey) water for irrigation, by stimulating rainwater harvesting and by having simple home systems for the treatment of the used water.
The reduction of the use of water in the agricultural arena is based on the selection of crops which fit the local culture but which - in addition - are economical with water. Industrial water use reduction is illustrated on the basis of a case study chosen from the leather tanning industry.
The thesis ends with a chapter in which the requirements are described for the institutional context needed for the implementation and organisation of a West Bank-wide water management plan that aims at a sustainable water situation by 2025. Although technical and environmental considerations play a major role in the approach towards achieving water sustainability, the position of the users towards this approach is carefully evaluated through workshops and extensive surveys.
Users were asked to assess their willingness to use - and their willingness to pay for - various options for domestic water use reduction by assessing how using such options would affect their happiness. This allowed the determination of the extent in which a certain option would be socially acceptable and, thus, be able to play a role in the water management package.
With the completion of her thesis, Dr. Nazer has followed a very personal and a-traditional road to a professional career, remarkable under the specific circumstances of life - especially as a woman - in Palestine.