Sixty thousand residents of the unrecognized villages in the Negev live with lack of access to water. This situation is counter Israeli law as well as to international conventions to which Israel is party. In order to temporarily provide access to water for all residents of the unrecognized villages, “water stations” should be established.

Due to lack of access to water, water must be transported and stored in containers. Storing water in such a manner leads to significant harm to their quality, which has far-reaching negative consequences for the health of village residents, and children in particular. Moreover, transporting water is extremely costly, reaching at times more than 20% of monthly family income.

Recently, the Abu Bassma Regional Council began to implement the water station system as a temporary solution to the water shortage problem facing the villages under its jurisdiction. Water stations consist of a primary water main which passes through the village, to which villagers are connected at several points via pipes and water meters installed on an individual basis. Such a solution is only temporary, as a permanent system would include and make use of a local purification station built according to regulation and with building permits. Despite the makeshift nature of the current system, it has nonetheless brought about significant improvement in the lives of village residents. Therefore, we call for the construction of ten water stations in the unrecognized villages that will, according to our assessment, provide an effective provisional solution to more than 90% of residents of  the unrecognized villages that currently do not have appropriate access to clean water.