Jordan: Water problems ‘resurface’
Jordan's plight with drought has been highlighted
this year with almost no rain falling on the kingdom, prompting
officials to call on citizens to pray for rain on Friday 26 December.
Fear is growing that if no rain falls in the coming few days, the
agriculture season for vegetables, wheat and barley would be wasted.
In the Jordan valley, one of the kingdom's main vegetables suppliers,
rain has been scarce and farmers fear for the viability of their crops.
Farmers from Deir Ala, in the northern Jordan Valley, told IRIN the
government stopped pumping water to their farms to preserve the water
for drinking purposes amid declining levels of rain.
"What can I do with my plants?" asked Mohammad Barawi, a farmer. Also
in the southern city of Kerak prospects for this year's wheat and
barley produce are bleak as farmers worry that without water seeds
might rot underground.
"I only pray that rain falls very soon, or else I will lose all my
harvest," said Salim Abdullah, a farmer with 100 donums of barley on
the outskirts of Kerak.
However, Aktham Medanat, head of Karak agriculture department, said
that more farmers might be seeking government aid in 2008 compared to
past years.
Water problem highlighted
A ministerial conference for the Mediterranean region was held on 22
December under the auspices of the European Union on the shores of the
Dead Sea to discuss means of tackling climate change and its impact on
water resources.
Of the 19 countries taking part in the one-day event, Jordan is the
poorest in terms of water resources. Jordanian officials presented
their case to donors with a call to support the long sought-for Dead
Sea/Red Sea canal, that might prove to be the only life line for the
5.6 million population as water resources continue drying.
The strategy aims to maintain the quality of water and reduce pressure
on water resources through better water management. Ministers in the
conference decided to adopt a long-term strategy to tackle the water
problem, but for Jordan an urgent solution is needed to provide water.
However, implementing the Dead Sea/Red Sea canal project could be
harder than Jordanians hoped, according to Jordan's former minister of
water Hazem al-Nasser. He said political problems among the neighbours
might delay the project.
Israeli minister of infrastructure Binyamin Ben-Elieze said his country
strongly supports Jordan's calls for building the canal. He said Jordan
would pump around 60 percent of the water from the canal while Israel
and the Palestinian territories would get the remaining 40 percent
combined.
Jordan is counting on the project to be one of the kingdom's main energy resources.
The canal would cut through the desert bordering Jordan and Israel in
Wadi Araba, creating a natural borderline between the two countries,
which signed a peace treaty in 1994. According to the plan, a total of
650 million cubic metres would be pumped from the Red Sea to the Dead
Sea annually.
The flowing water would also help generate electricity as water is
drawn from the Red sea, raised 170 metres above sea level and then
released to the Dead Sea at 400 metres below sea level.
A rapid decline in Dead Sea water levels has alarmed environmentalists
in Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories who fear the biblical
site might dry up within 50 years.
Experts are at the final stages of a feasibility study funded by the
World Bank to determine the environmental impact of the canal, with
Egyptian authorities already saying they fear for the corals on the Red
Sea if the canal is built.
Contact information | n/a |
---|---|
News type | Inbrief |
File link |
http://www.waterconserve.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=116184 |
Source of information | Copyright 2009, IRIN |
Keyword(s) | drought |
Subject(s) | DRINKING WATER , ENERGY , FINANCE-ECONOMY , HYDRAULICS - HYDROLOGY , INFRASTRUCTURES , NATURAL MEDIUM , POLICY-WATER POLICY AND WATER MANAGEMENT , PREVENTION AND NUISANCES POLLUTION , RISKS AND CLIMATOLOGY , SANITATION -STRICT PURIFICATION PROCESSES , WATER DEMAND |
Relation | http://www.emwis.net/thematicdirs/news/drought-jordan-calls-people-pray-rain-and |
Geographical coverage | Jordan |
News date | 28/01/2009 |
Working language(s) | ENGLISH |