Jordan’s water authorities are drawing up a plan to handle the water shortage expected this summer, due to low rainfall, according to a press report.
An official source at the ministry has told Al Arab Al Yawm Arabic daily that the water shortage will be the similar to the one last year in which the deficit in resources amounted to between 20 to 25 percent.
The ratio of water shortage in the agriculture sector has risen to reach about 50 percent because the water stored in the dams is only 20 percent of their capacity or 33 million cubic meters of their total storage capacity of 160 million cubic meters.
The plan, which has three dimensions, includes programs for the rationalization of water consumption in all sectors giving priority to drinking water particularly regarding its quality and quantity to meet the community needs. It also includes the lease of private water wells and linking them with the public water system, completion of some water projects and the implementation of periodical water distribution programs for all areas.
Refusing to describe the situation as a crisis, the source confirmed that “it is difficult” and needs the efforts and cooperation of all citizens in a country considered to be one of the poorest in water resources at the international level.
The Secretary General of Jordan Valley Authority, Zafer Al Alem, has confirmed that the emergency plan adopted by the authority and endorsed by the cabinet to rationalize water consumption is proceeding well, according to the daily.
He expected that the plan would achieve positive results that would help in confronting the difficult water situation and the growing shortage of irrigation water, which has reached 50 percent.
The plan also bans summer cultivation, which consumes large amounts of water, and provides water for the irrigation of trees through rationing of water distribution by different ratios reaching 50 percent at the maximum.
Al Alem said that the plan also includes the lease by the authority of water units that would provide 10 million cubic meters of water indicating that the lease decision has been endorsed by the cabinet in principle and that it will be approved soon – Albawaba.com
