TITLE:
Jordan’s Water Sector—Alarming Issues and Future
AUTHORS:
Elias Salameh, Hakam Al-Alami
KEYWORDS:
Interrupted Water Pumping, Overexploitation, Irrigation Efficiency, Per Capita Water Use, Sector Management
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.9 No.12,
December
28,
2021
ABSTRACT: Jordan
has, to a
satisfactory degree, managed
its scarce water resources, especially during the last few decades due to the
regional conflicts and refugee waves hosted in the country since 1948. The waves of refugees in
1967, and after), returnees from the Gulf States 1991/92, during the first Gulf
war), Lebanon (1970s and 1980s), Iraq (2003 and after, and lastly Syria (2011-2017
have as well severely impacted the
management of water resources which has negatively impacted the water sector
especially in terms of allocating new water resources to satisfy the needs of
the country. In addition, shortsightedness of some water policy-makers has led
to the deteriorations in the water resources quantitatively and qualitatively,
which has resulted in social and economic discomfort of the population. In this
article, the shortcomings in the water sector are addressed, such as setting an
end to groundwater overexploitation, providing water to the population in a
continuous way, improving water use efficiency in agricultural uses and the way
forward is delineated based on a critical
judgment of the actual situation of the water sector in order to reach at a
more robust water sector with all its positive impacts on the social, economic and
political life in the country.