Jordan Identifies Water as a Policy Priority

One of the world’s water-poorest countries, Jordan celebrated World Water Day by identifying its water shortage as the greatest challenge to its development. Per capita water consumption in Jordan, according to the Jordanian water and irrigation ministry is far below the international water poverty line of 1,000 cubic meters per person per year. The United Nations ranks Jordan alongside Kuwait, the UAE and Bahrain as one of the world’s ten most thirsty countries with a per capita water consumption of 145 cubic meters a year. The country’s water shortage is heightened by the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Iraq and an annual 2.3 percent population growth.

The situation is made worse by constantly increasing demand. The country’s population of six million is growing at a rate of 2.3 per cent annually. Jordan’s water resources have also come under increased strain with the influx of 500,000 to 700,000 Iraqi refugees since the US-led war in Iraq began in 2003.

“One of the key challenges the water sector faces is that the supply-and-demand equation is not balanced,” The National quotes Water and Irrigation Minister Mohammad Najar as saying. “Also water resources are limited, and the (process) of depleting underground water … are major challenges the ministry is facing.” Najar said the ministry was having difficulty stopping illegal pumping of underground and surface water and enforcing laws and regulations. Officials say mismanagement and lack of maintenance further contribute to the shortage. An estimated 40 percent of the kingdom’s water is lost annually to worn-out pipes, leakage and water theft.

The National quotes water expert Dureid Mahasneh as also blaming ill-advised agricultural policies. “We wrongly export our water in the forms of tomatoes to Europe,” Mahasneh says. “There is no need to grow apricots and peaches in winter as they consume so much water. The priority should be for drinking water.”

The government hopes that two major projects will help alleviate the shortage. The Dissi project, which is expected to provide Amman by 2013 with 100 cubic meters of water per year from an ancient desert aquifer 325km south of the capital near the border with Saudi Arabia. The project, which kicked off this month, is expected to be complete in 2013 at a cost of US$990m (Dh3.6 billion). The other is a controversial plan to build a canal linking the Red Sea and the Dead Sea Canal at an estimated $2bn. The project has long been a target for environmentalists and been mired in the intricacies of the Arab-Israeli conflict.