From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world stands idly by in the face of the virus spreading. The prediction of highly vulnerable populations and the implementation of proper actions are very important steps to break the infection chain of any virus. This will, in turn, reduce the economic and social impact of this virus outbreak. In this study, the COVID-19 vulnerability map for the West Bank, Palestine was developed. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to develop the COVID-19 vulnerability map. The GIS in combination with multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) was adopted to estimate the COVID-19 vulnerability index (CVI) based on some selected potential criteria including population, population density, elderly population, accommodation and food service activities, school students, chronic diseases, hospital beds, health insurance, and pharmacy. The results of this study show that Nablus, Jerusalem, and Hebron governorates are under very high vulnerability. Tulkarm, Ramallah & Al-Bireh and Jenin governorates are high vulnerable to COVID-19. Additionally, 82 % of the West Bank populations are under high to very high COVID-19 vulnerability classes. Moreover, 14% and 4 % are medium and low to very low vulnerable, respectively. The obtained results are of high value to help decision-makers to take to proper actions as early as possible mainly in the highly COVID-19 vulnerable governorates to control the risk associated with the potential outbreak of the virus and accordingly to protect social life and to sustain economic conditions.

In highly water-poor areas, rooftop rainwater harvesting (RRWH) can be used for a self-sustaining and self-reliant domestic water supply. The designing of an optimal RRWH storage tank is a key parameter to implement a reliable RRWH system. In this study, the optimal size of RRWH storage tanks in the different West Bank governorates was estimated based on monthly (all governorates) and daily (i.e., Nablus) inflow (RRWH) and outflow (domestic water demand, DWD) data. In the estimation of RRWH, five rooftop areas varying between 100 m2 and 300 m2 were selected. Moreover, the reliability of the adopting RRWH system in the different West Bank governorates was tested. Two-time series scenarios were assumed: Scenario 1, S1 (12 months, annual) and scenario 2, S2 (8 months, rainy). As a result, reliable curves for preliminary estimation of optimal RRWH storage tanks for the different West Bank governorates were obtained. Results show that the required storage tank for S1 (annual) is more than that of the S2 (rainy) one. The required storage tank to fulfill DWD is based on the average rooftop area of 150 m2, the average family members of 4.8, and the average DWD of 90 L per capita per day (L/c/d) varies between (75 m3 to 136 m3) and (24 m3 to 84 m3) for S2 for the different West Bank governorates. Further, it is found that the optimal RRWH tank size for the 150 m2 rooftop ranges between 20 m3 (in Jericho) to 75 m3 (in Salfit and Nablus) and between 20 m3 (in Jericho) to 51 m3 (in Jerusalem) for S1 and S2 scenarios, respectively. Finally, results show that the implementation of an RRWH system for a rooftop area of 150 m2 and family members of 4.8 is reliable for all of the West Bank governorates except Jericho. Whereas, the reliability doesn’t exceed 19% for the two scenarios. However, the reduction of DWDv is highly affecting the reliability of adopting RRWH systems in Jericho (the least rainfall governorate). For instance, a family DWDv of 3.2 m3/month (25% of the average family DWDv in the West Bank) will increase the reliability at a rooftop area of 150 m2 to 51% and 76% for S1 and S2, respectively.

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Water is a key factor for sustainable development which is in turn contributing to SDG 6 “Ensure access to water for all”. Generally, in arid and semi-arid regions, water is becoming less in quantity. This is due to the increasing water demand for different uses and the consequences of climate change. This situation compiled the urgent need to implement a sustainable and non-conventional water resources, among which is rooftop rainwater harvesting (RRWH) which is being studied in this research. This paper aims to estimate potential volume of RRWH and to evaluate the possibility of adopting RRWH as a reliable water resource in trying to bridge the domestic water supply-demand (DWSD) gap in the West Bank. The methodology of this study mainly rely on the use of the geographic information system (GIS) together with MS Excel. RRWH volumes were estimated based on the available GIS shapefiles of rooftops and long-term areal annual average rainfall. According to Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) data for the year 2017, the DWSD gap in the West Bank is 32 million cubic meters (MCM). In the West Bank, and given the vulnerable water supply, RRWH was found to be a strategic option to bridge this gap. The results of this study show that the estimated RRWH volume potentially available from West Bank rooftops is 37 MCM. Moreover, the adoption of RRWH in areas with high to very high domestic rainwater harvesting suitability can collect up to 32 MCM. Implementation of RRWH in high domestic water poor areas yet highly suitable for rainwater harvesting amounted to 53% of total RRWH volume in the West Bank. This paper may help potential Stakeholders (e.g. PWA) to adopt RRWH as a sustainable water resource option to alleviate domestic water shortage in the West Bank. الماء عامل رئيس للتنمية المستدامة، وهذا يتماشى مع الهدف السادس من أهداف التنمية المستدامة "ضمان توفر المياه للجميع". بشكل عام، في المناطق الجافة وشبه الجافة، أصبح الماء شحيحاً في كميته ويرجع هذا إلى الطلب المتزايد على المياه للاستخدامات المختلفة وتبعات التغير المناخي. هذا الوضع جعل هناك ضرورة للبحث عن موارد مائية مستدامة وغير تقليدية من بينها حصاد المياه من أسطح المباني الذي ستتم دراسته في هذا البحث. تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى تقدير كمية المياه المتوقع حصادها من أسطح المباني وتقييم إمكانية الاعتماد على الحصاد المائي من أسطح المباني كمصدر موثوق لجسر الفجوة بين العرض والطلب على المياه للاستخدام المنزلي في مختلف محافظات الضفة الغربية. تعتمد منهجية هذه الدراسة بشكل رئيسي على استخدام برنامج نظم المعلومات الجغرافية و برنامج الاكسل لتقدير كمية المياه المتوقع تجميعها من أسطح المباني وذلك اعتماداً على الخرائط المكانية المتوفرة لتوزيع المباني والأمطار. وفقًا للبيانات المائية المتوفرة في سلطة المياه الفلسطينية للعام 2017، تبلغ الفجوة بين العرض والطلب على المياه المتاحة للاستخدام المنزلي في الضفة الغربية حوالي 32 مليون متر مكعب. في الضفة الغربية وذلك بسبب عدم موثوقية التزود يمكن الاعتماد على الحصاد المائي من أسطح المباني لجسر هذه الفجوة. تظهر نتائج هذه الدراسة أن كمية المياه التي يمكن حصادها من أسطح المباني في الضفة الغربية هي 37 مليون متر مكعب. إضافة لذلك، فإن توظيف الحصاد المائي من أسطح المباني في المناطق الأكثر ملاءمة للحصاد المائي يمكن أن يجمع ما مقداره 32 مليون متر مكعب. أخيراً، يشكل توظيف تقنيات الحصاد المائي من أسطح المباني في المناطق الفقيرة وفي نفس الوقت الملائمة للحصاد المائي للاستخدام المنزلي حوالي 53% من أجمالي كمية المياه التي يمكن تجميعها من أسطح المباني في الضفة الغربية. هذه الدراسة ربما تساعد أصحاب العلاقة (سلطة المياه الفلسطينية) لتبني تقنيات الحصاد المائي من أسطح المباني للتقليل من الفجوة بين العرض والطلب على المياه للاستخدام المنزلي في الضفة الغربية.