Decree Law No.14 of 2014 relating to the Water Law.

This Law, consisting of 68 articles divided in twelve Chapters, aims at a better water management and development of Palestinian water resources, through establishing for a new phase for the water and wastewater sector, its governance and management. It states that the Water Authority will be under the responsibility of the Cabinet, splitting policy from regulatory functions, which was previously carried out by Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) since its establishment.
PWA shall be responsible, among others, for: managing water resources and applying principles of their integrated and sustainable management; preparing general water policies, strategies and plans, and ensuring their implementation; regulating water resources (licensing) including abstraction quotas and allocation of resources for different sectors. The Authority shall establish and maintain a registry for all types of licenses and permits related to any kind of water-related projects or works. The following activities are subject to the issuance of a license from the PWA, namely (i) drilling, exploration, extraction or collection of groundwater; (ii) the construction or expansion of a well or the drilling a substitute well; and (iii) utilizing surface water for non-personal purposes. The responsibilities of the Authority are listed in article 8.
The new Water Law grants the establishment, by the Cabinet, of Water Sector Regulatory Council (WSRC) independent from PWA. The Regulatory Council will operate for better management and development of Palestinian water resources through the use of sustainable and integrated water resources principles. It is chaired by a Board of Director derived from the public sector, private sector and civil society. Its mandate makes it responsible for equal water prices and monitoring the performance of water and wastewater service providers. It will issue licenses for operators to establish the infrastructure needed to supply, desalinate and treat water and set the framework for quality assurance of services and manage consumer complaints.
The Law includes directives to transform the West Bank Water Department into a governmental Company which will be owned by the State of Palestine. The Company shall be responsible for supplying and selling bulk water, extracting water, desalination of water, bulk water transmission and any tasks as assigned by the Water Authority.
The new Law gives PWA the mandate, endorsed by the Cabinet, for establishment of two local institutions: 1) Regional Water Utilities (RWU) responsible for the provision of water and wastewater services to consumers for domestic uses in line with sustainable economic, social and environment principles; 2) Water User Associations (WUA) responsible for managing the service of supplying irrigation water at the local level in a sustainable manner, in accordance with a regulation issued by the Cabinet of Ministers.
The Law includes articles protecting water resources, preventing their pollution (i.e. suspension of water extraction or water supply in cases of pollution) and defined protection zones. In addition, monitoring of water resources and provides the head of PWA the mandate to provide judicial policy.
The twelve Chapters are entitled as follows: Definitions and General Provisions (1); The Water Authority (2); Head of the Authority and his Responsibilities (3); The Water Sector Regulatory Council (4): Licensing of Water resources (5); The Tariff (6); The National Water Company (7); Regional Water Utilities and Water Users Associations (8); Protection of Water Environment (9); Monitoring and Inspection (10); Penalties (11); and Transitional and Final Provisions (12).