(30 Mar 2022) LEAD IN:
Climate change is increasing the hardship of people in Jordan, a country which is already experiencing an extreme scarcity of water.
The Middle Eastern kingdom is seeing unprecedented rises in summer temperatures, and the delay of the winter season with a decrease in rainfall.
This week Dubai will host the first ever Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Climate Week which is expected to highlight the plight of nations like Jordan.
STORY-LINE:
Surface water is seriously depleted in Jordan by increasing summer temperatures and demands from a growing population and agriculture according to the United Nations organization UNICEF.
It says only two thirds of the country's sanitation systems are safely managed and only a third of schools have basic sanitation services.
It's not just surface water that's decreasing, UNICEF says the country's main aquifers are also decreasing in supply, with annual declines of more than ten metres in some.
Jesus Trelles UNICEF's head of Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Jordan says the outlook for water supplies is unlikely to improve.
Trelles says: "Jordan is one of the most water scarce countries in the world. There is an estimated less than 100 cubic meters per person per year of water is available, which is far far, below the 500 cubic meters per year. That indicates extreme water scarcity. With climate change, we see that the effects are multiplied, particularly over the most vulnerable population and more particularly children. We know that due to climate change, we will have a reduction on the rainfall, a reduction on the recharge of the water sources, both surface water in terms of quantity and quality, but also the rainwater sources."
All this is occuring as Jordan's population has swelled with refugees from Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Climate and water expert, Duraid Mahasneh, warns Jordan's future water security is in danger with supplies which are just a fraction of what is needed.
"Little could be done because we have depleted most of our freshwater resources with the underground aquifers out of 14, we only have now two. The only limited resources we can do is by desalination and desalination in Aqaba for two purposes, one to supply people with their needs of water, and secondly to raise the level of the Dead Sea, which is decreasing by almost one meter a year," says Mahasneh.
Mahasneh also believes it is no longer possible for Jordan to rely on collecting water from traditional sources.
He also points out the country is relying too heavily upon neighbouring countries for supplies.
"Unfortunately, we used to depend mostly on transboundary waters with Syria, Israel in particular, and with Saudi Arabia in the South. Our water resources with Saudi Arabia is limited in the Disi aquifer, and that is well organized, but unfortunately, we are not using much of, or we are not benefiting from our water resources in the Yarmouk. The dam that was built to contain 110 million cubic meters of water, shared water with Syria only contains 10 to 14 million, which is devastating. Our regulation with water resources with Israel hasn't improved. Now we are dependent more on buying water from Israel, which is not a very sound way of regulating or managing our water resources," he says.
The peace agreement between the Kingdom and Israel signed in 1994, entitles Jordan to receive 55 million cubic meters from Israel annually.
According to Omar Salameh the spokesperson for the Water and Irrigation Ministry the government is doing as much as it can to increase supply.
He says his family is already careful not to waste the resource.
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