Jordan suffers summer of water shortages

[AMMAN] Jordanians face the country’s worse water shortage in almost a decade due to the combined effect of weak rainfall and water overuse during COVID-19 lockdowns.

The arid country had only 60 per cent of the rainfall it usually gets between October 2020 and May 2021, leaving its four dams only 45 per cent full, official figures show.

At the same time, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic raised demand for18beplay官网 在锁定和增加的手洗，在10％到40％之间，report约旦经济和社会委员会说。

Jordan’s Minister of Water and Irrigation, Muhammad Al-Najjar, blames the mismanagement of water resources in 2020 for the critical situation.

“The kingdom witnessed an excellent rainy season [last year], and a number of dams reached their full storage capacity, but we mishandled what was stored, and we did not anticipate the possibility that the year 2021 would be dry.

“In fact, we wasted water by providing farmers with large additional quantities of irrigation, above their approved quota.”

外交部敦促市民减少水分r consumption. But many residents have had enough of the strain on resources and disruption to water supplies. Fadi Abu Qura, who lives in the Tla’ Al-Ali suburb of the capital, Amman, toldscidev.net: “We always live in a water crisis, and I don’t know where all the rains go.

“We haven’t received sufficient quantities of water since last February, and we no longer know what day the water will come.”

Fadi Abu Qura，Amman居民

“We haven’t received sufficient quantities of water since last February, and we no longer know what day the water will come, while water pumping doesn’t last for more 12 hours a week.”

他补充说：“大约一个月前，温度上升了，我们遭受了很多痛苦，并诉诸于从坦克那里购买水。这很昂贵，但我们别无选择。”

An official report last year on the state of Jordan’s water highlighted rising pressure on the country’s main water sources that were already stretched before the onset of COVID-19.

“The pandemic has delayed some projects, such as the national carrier for desalination and transportation of water from Aqaba to Amman,” said water ministry spokesman Omar Salameh, citing increasing operational and maintenance costs facing the water sector.

水库的状态，尤其是Al Wahda，Al Mujib和Al Wala，是夏季供水是否安全的重要指标，因为必须将地下水与其他来源的水混合，以符合约旦饮用水标准。

玛娜尔Almahasneh,秘书的约旦河谷uthority, said this summer would be “tough for farmers”, with water quotas halved under a rationing policy introduced to address the shortage. He attributes the crisis to the “poor storage of dams designated for irrigation”.

Almahasneh advised farmers to only plant on half of their农业land and to choose crops that consume less water.

The Union of Farmers in the Jordan Valley has warned of the consequences of reducing water allocations for irrigation, such as fewer crops and the potential impact on18beplay 在国内。

Duraid Mahasneh, president of the Association for the Sustainability of Water, Environment and Renewable Energysaid the water problem in Jordan is more political than geographical.

“Since 1948, the kingdom has received refugees due to the conflicts in the region, and at a time when the kingdom’s water suffices two million people, the current population requires distributing it among 10 million,” he said. “Most of the surface water and groundwater sources are shared with neighbouring countries, and we are at their mercy.”

这篇文章由Scidev.net的中东和北非桌子制作，并为简洁而清晰。