Water has many purposes throughout the world, aside from human consumption and purposes related to that. With 70 percent of the earth's surface covered with water, it makes water the most common substance on earth. There are 326 million cubic miles of water on earth. Without water, there could be no life. Every living thing needs water to live, and every living thing is made of at least some water. For example, a chicken is about three-fourths water, and a pineapple is about four-fifths water. And as much as it is a part of each living thing, it has many uses inside and outside the home. It can irrigate dry farmlands in order to grow crops. (The United States uses 100 billion gallons of water for irrigation of crops per day.) We can cook with it, bathe with it, and use it to carry away wastes. On average, a human uses 70 gallons of water per day.
Water is very necessary to human life, and that fact is reinforced by the fact that humans take in over 16,000 gallons of water during their lifetimes, with an average of 2.5 quarts per day. Water carries out life processes in everything, carrying out biological reactions and aiding with digestion of other nutrients.
The world's demand for water is constantly increasing, with no end in sight. Experts speculate that by the year 2000, the world s need for water will double from what it was in the 1980s. And since only 3 percent of the water on earth is freshwater, and 97 percent of the water is trapped in glaciers, most of the water on earth is not easily available.
GREATER AMMAN WATER SUPPLY PROJECT, JORDAN
On 9 March 2004, the European Union and the Kingdom of Jordan signed the agreement for a further أ¢â€ڑآ¬2 million of assistance to support the country's ongoing programme to improve water supply. This is the latest in a long line of contributions to a collaborative effort from a number of sources over the last ten years, including the World Bank, the US, Japan and Libya, together with some which came direct from individual EU Member States. The US Government alone has given million in grant aid to the Jordanian water sector since 1993 and a total of some million in grants and loans were secured from various sources for projects to be implemented during the five-year period from 1999 to 2004. Over 80% of this has provided critically needed water and wastewater infrastructure. The remainder has largely been used to support a number of important policy changes and finance capital investment, operation and maintenance.
This most recent EU funding is intended to help improve water management, reduce water losses and substantially upgrade the quality of water services in various parts of the Kingdom. A significant portion of this will be directed to the project instigated in 1996 to secure the water supply to the Greater Amman area.
The country's required water sector investment to 2012 is estimated at around billion.
JORDAN WATER SUPPLY BACKGROUND
The scarcity of water in Jordan is widely seen as the single most important restriction on the country's sustainable economic growth, particularly given the increasing population, which was nearly 5.5 million in July 2003 and growing at a yearly rate of 2.78%. About 70% of the population is urban, with 2 million living within the Greater Amman area.
The country's annual water demand currently exceeds 1 billion mط¢آ³ and is projected to rise to over 1.3 billion mط¢آ³ by 2005, having nearly doubled since the mid-90s. Jordan's renewable water resources can supply around 750 million mط¢آ³/year, leaving an annual deficit which has grown steadily, despite the huge programme of investment in the water sector, from 222 million mط¢آ³ in 1995 to a predicted 251million mط¢آ³ by 2011. The current annual allowance of 200mط¢آ³ per capita lags significantly behind other countries in the region, being around 65% less than that available in Israel and Syria and 85% less than Egypt.
Long-term solutions are likely to involve the development of new water supplies, probably from outside its borders. Jordan already receives 60 million mط¢آ³ from Israel and while it would be possible to extend the existing buy-in arrangements, this source can only be realistically anticipated to provide a relatively modest additional contribution in the future, perhaps up to a further 20 million mط¢آ³.
Two major potential projects have been considered. The first involves importing water from Turkey; the second would require the construction of the "Red Sea-Dead Sea" canal, together with associated desalination facilities, and could increase water availability to both Jordan and Israel by as much as 850 million mط¢آ³ annually. However, these would inevitably be huge undertakings, requiring enormous investment and many years to be realised.
To make the best use of investment in the interim, Jordan has developed a 14-year, billion priority plan, aimed at alleviating the country's growing water crisis in the short to medium term. This employs two main approaches to narrow the gap between supply and demand - firstly, improving water supply management and secondly, increasing the efficiency of water use, thus making the most of the scarce resources available.
IMPROVING AMMAN'S WATER SUPPLY
Amman's distribution has long been dogged by problems and many residents receive a supply on just one day a week. Until very recently, over 50% of the water entering the city's distribution system was effectively unaccounted for, with half of this being lost by leakage and the rest due to poor administration, inadequate billing and lax payment collection. As a result of a series initiatives designed to address these problems, leakage has been reduced to roughly a third. In addition, the efficiency of customer charging within the Greater Amman water distribution system has improved significantly, now yielding a 25% profit over operational and maintenance costs. Education campaigns have also been supported, which have been very successful in boosting greater consumer awareness of the country's pressing water concerns.
Despite these improvements, providing the city with additional volumes of water remains a priority. One of the major measures envisaged to achieve this is the Disi-Mudawwara project, which aims to construct a pipeline from the Disi aquifer on Jordan's border with Saudi Arabia, to Amman, a distance of some 325km. This will provide the city with around 100 million mط¢آ³/year of water at an estimated base capital cost of million.
65 new boreholes will be created together with well field collectors, a 12,000mط¢آ³ collector reservoir, a main pumping station and associated balancing tanks, a 16,600mط¢آ³ regulating tank, a series of flow control stations, chlorination units and a terminal reservoir in Amman. Substantial operation and maintenance facilities will also be provided, including roadways, communication and telemetry services and electrical supply lines to the well field pumping stations.
The project's progress has not been straightforward. The aquifer holds fossil water and, since it receives no modern-day replenishment, is an unsustainable source which is already showing signs of depletion and increasing salinity from existing extraction. Its position on the Saudi border also makes the issue of further exploitation politically sensitive. A full feasibility study was completed in mid-1996, with preliminary design studies and geo-technical investigations completed the following year. Initial pre-qualifying bids on the Build-Own-Operate-Transfer contract were taken in late 2001 and final bids from two consortia were opened on 20 August, 2003 which are currently under evaluation by Jordan's Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI).
The project has a tentative five-year timetable and funding is another multi-donor effort. Libya will pay for around half the cost of the pipeline, sponsor equity accounts for 15% of total construction costs, the World Bank will support the project through partial risk guarantee and the balance comes from private investors and external funding agencies.
A number of other projects have already been implemented. Major repairs and redesigns, including upgrades to the existing 80mm to 1,200mm diameter primary pipelines, reservoirs and pumping stations have been undertaken across the Greater Amman network. The Japanese government funded a million undertaking to increase the amount of water pumped to Amman through the King Abdullah Canal via the Balqa-based Zai water pumping station to 90 million mط¢آ³/year.
In September 2003, the contract was awarded to construct the Zara-Maain water supply and treatment plant, which promises to provide the city with an extra 38 million mط¢آ³/year - around 40% of Amman's annual allocation - by 2005. This million project includes a pre-treatment system, desalination plant, a 40km water transmission pipeline and control systems.
KEY PLAYERS
Many parties have been involved in the various programme elements, including the Government of Jordan, the Jordan Valley Authority, Water Authority of Jordan, Ministry of Water and Irrigation and the Irrigation Advisory Service. Funding has come from the World Bank, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the European Investment Bank, Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau, the European Union and a number of individual nations including Germany, Italy, Japan, Libya and the United Kingdom.
Major contractors include Lahmeyer International/Sigma JV, Hazen & Sayer, Morganti Group, Montgomery Watson, Suez-Lyonnaise des Eaux, Morganti Group/Ondeo Degremeont JV, Tokyo Sekkei Jimusho, Gibb, Camp, Dresser & McKee, Metcalf & Eddy, Harza, CH2MHill, ABT & Associates and Chemonics. Consultancy services were provided by DHV/SSI, Brown and Root North Africa, Consolidated Consultants, CEC/Sajdi & Partners and Dorsch Consult.
Who said that we have water problem in Jordan?
The King Talal dam
The Socio-Economic Role of The King Talal dam in the Kingdom of Jordan
Author: Haddadin, Dr Munther
1. Introduction
The JordanRiver Basin straddles territories in Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan and Palestine. The river acquires its name after three major tributaries join its course north of Lake Tiberias, and it flows southwards towards Lake Tiberias. Its natural exit from the Lake was dammed with gates so that the Lake became a large reservoir. The river picks up water from tributaries that discharge water into it from the east and from the west. The largest tributary to the Jordan is the Yarmouk that drains territories in Syria and Jordan, and passes by Israeli territories before it discharges into the Jordan. The second largest tributary is the ZarqaRiver that drains purely Jordanian territories, and has an average natural flow of 96 MCM per year. The capital city of Amman, and several other cities including Zarqa, Ruseifeh, Jarash and others are located in the catchment of the ZarqaRiver. The population in the catchment is about two million people, and the industrial activities in the country were started in it since the 1950's before full awareness of the environmental impacts such industries could impact on water resources.
The proposed development of the JordanRiver basin called for the utilization of the upper tributaries before the river exits from Lake Tiberias, and for the utilization of the lower tributaries before they join the river. In effect the course of the Lower Jordan south of Lake Tiberias would be denied fresh water supplies and would transform into a drain for agricultural drainage water. The proposed development was based on the sharing of the waters of the basin by the riparian parties, and subsequent undertakings of water projects for the development of the basin. The proposed plan fell through politically after it was endorsed on the technical level by the concerned parties. It was then thought proper to have it implemented in a staged manner.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan obtained financial assistance from the United States to develop the unregulated flow of the YarmoukRiver and the side wadis on the East Bank of the Jordan. The unregulated flow was sufficient to develop some 10,500 dunums of arable lands in the JordanValley. The constraint was water availability in the dry season (April through October) rather than the wet season. Small dams were built on minor side wadis to make water available in the dry season. By 1967 about 11,400 hectars between the Yarmouk and the Zarqa were brought under perennial irrigation. Any expansion in the irrigated area would require impoundment of flood waters by dams. The regulation of the Yarmouk was stalled by riparian issues that were exacerbated by political factors. Israel was a third riparian in addition to Jordan and Syria, and a state of war prevailed between Israel and the Arab states. Another complication was the Syrian plans to develop the Yarmouk basin unilaterally.
Jordan went through a period of turmoil in the wake of the 1967 war. The internal situation was finally brought under control in 1971. Economic development had to be restarted and a special development plan was made drawn up for the JordanVall
The Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI) is the official body in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan responsible for overall water planning and management; the formulation of national water strategies and policies; research and development; information systems and funding resources in Jordan.
USAID is an independent federal government agency that supports long-term and equitable economic growth and advances U.S. foreign policy objectives by supporting economic growth in developing countries, agriculture and trade, global health; and, democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance.
The Middle East and North Africa Regional Water Initiative (RWI) was launched in the mid 90s by the World Bank's Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Department in collaboration with the European Union, the European Investment Bank and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The objectives of the RWI are to facilitate water policy reforms in countries of the region through: (i) analytical and sector work support, (ii) knowledge and experience sharing, and (iii) establishment and strengthening of partnerships with other organizations and donor partners.
The International Development Research Center (IDRC) is a public corporation created by the Parliament of Canada in 1970 to help developing countries use science and technology to find practical, long-term solutions to the social, economic, and environmental problems they face. Support is directed toward developing an indigenous research capacity to sustain policies and technologies developing countries need to build healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous societies. IDRC's mandate is to initiate, encourage, support, and conduct research into the problems of the developing regions of the world and into the means for applying and adapting scientific, technical, and other knowledge to the economic and social advancement of those regions.
The UNESCO Cairo office (UCO) serves as a regional UNESCO office for science & technology in Arab states. Within this mandate, it receives decentralized regular programme funds to execute work plans in the specific areas including the water sciences through the intergovernmental water programme of UNESCO known as International Hydrological Programme (IHP). IHP is a vehicle through which Member States can upgrade their knowledge of the water cycle and thereby increase their capacity to better manage and develop their water resources.
The Academy for Educational Development is an independent, non-profit organization committed to solving critical social problems in the U.S. and throughout the world. Major areas of focus include the environment, health, education, and youth development.
The American Water Works Association (AWWA) is an international non-profit scientific and educational society dedicated to the improvement of drinking water quality and supply. Founded in 1881, AWWA is the largest organization of water supply professional in the world. Its more than 57,000 members represent the full spectrum of the drinking water community as well as membership of more than 4,000 utilities that supply water to roughly 180 million people in North America.
The National Drought Mitigation Center helps people and institutions develop and implement measures to reduce societal vulnerability to drought, stressing preparedness and risk management rather than crisis management. Most of the NDMC's services are directed to state, federal, regional, and tribal governments that are involved in drought and water supply planning. The NDMC is also involved in drought preparedness activities at the international level, working with governments and international and regional organization.
The California Urban Water Conservation Council is a consensus partnership and collaboration among water utilities, regulators, public interest groups, and other interested organizations for the purpose of developing and implementing water use efficiency programs throughout California. The Council supports the water conservation efforts of its member organizations through technical assistance in implementing the BMP’s, collaborative research and development among the membership, and monitoring and evaluation of the urban water conservation programs and activities undertaken by the membership.
IWA is a global network of water professionals, spanning the continuum between research and practice and covering all facets of the water cycle with 7,000 members in 120 countries throughout the world. IWA's is positioned to help water professionals create innovative, pragmatic and sustainable solutions to challenging global water needs. IWA is at the forefront in connecting the broad community of water professionals around the globe - integrating the leading edge of professional thought on research and practice, regulators and the regulated, across national boundaries and across the drinking water, wastewater and storm-water disciplines.
IWRA has actively promoted the sustainable management of water resources around the globe with the belief that sustainability requires interdisciplinary action and international cooperation as the driving force. IWRA is committed to the sound management of water resources through advancing water resources and related environmental research, promoting water resources education, improving exchanges of information and expertise, networking with other organizations who share common interests and goals, and providing an international forum on water resource issues.
The International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) is a member of the U.N. University family of organizations. It was created by the UNU Governing Council in 1996 to strengthen water management capacity, particularly of developing countries, and to provide on-the-ground project support; with its core funding provided by the Government of Canada. It is headquartered at McMaster University, Canada.
The Irrigation Association is a non-profit international industry association that serves as a voice for global water resources management. The mission of The Irrigation Association is to improve the products and practices used to manage water resources to help shape the worldwide business environment of the irrigation industry. The Irrigation Association's interest in water resources encompasses the application conservation, drainage, improvement and recovery of water for economic and environmental enhancement in agriculture, turfgrass, landscape and forestry.
Emerald publishes the world's widest range of management and information services journals as well as a strong specialist range of health management, engineering, applied science and technology journals. Management of Environmental Quality is a highly respected international forum for the debate of environmental issues and their effect on human health. The journal's editorial objectives are to examine the various environmental factors and their impact on the overall quality of ecosystems and quality of life.
Jordan Badia Research and Development Programm (JBRDP) was established in 1992 under the umbrella of the Higher Council for Science and Technology (HCST) and the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) in UK. The mission of JBRDP is to Improve the Bedouins quality of life through sustainable development, and link through the Badia's economic with the national development policies and plans.
KfW was established in 1948 by a special law as special bank for business promotion. Today KfW covers a large range of activities, including investment financing, world-wide export and project financing, development cooperation as well as advisory activities. 80% of KfW’s share capital is owned by the federal government, 20% by the German federal states.
LEMA
LEMA is the private company appointed in 1999 to manage and operate the water and sewerage network of Greater Amman Municipality. It is owned 75% by Suez Environment, a French company known for its contracts managing water, sewerage and solid waste operations on behalf of municipalities around the world, and 25% by MWHAJ, a local engineering consultancy linked with the worldwide engineering consultancy group MWH. LEMA supplies and distributes 95 million cubic metres of potable water to 350,000 customers, maintains the water and sewerage networks, and collects and transports waste water to treatment plants on behalf of the Water Authority of Jordan. The company is also responsible for the billing and collection of all customer accounts and fees, generating some JD 32million in the process. It employs over 1,200 staff throughout the Greater Amman area.
Water re-use and management in Jordan
The Kingdom of Jordan is one of the top ten ‘water poor’ countries in the world. It suffers from an immediate and rapidly growing water deficit: water demand exceeds natural supply by about 140% and the renewable supply by about 175%.
That’s why PA Consulting Group was asked by USAID and Jordan's Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI) to play key strategic and implementation roles in developing methods to free-up the freshwater supply for human consumption, such as employing re-used water to irrigate crops.
These pages demonstrate the water strategy, technology, management and public relations skills that PA brings to this urgent human need:
USAID and the MWI, along with PA, formed a team to implement this important project. These PA-managed pilots demonstrate not only that crops can be grown with re-used water, but that effective irrigation of reclaimed water can significantly increase yields, producing tangible financial benefits in the opening four months of these projects.
Improved Water Resources Management
Lack of water has long been identified by Jordanians as a critical development constraint. Historically, USAID has also emphasized water as a central concern. Failure to effectively manage scarce water resources would undermine all other aspects of development in Jordan. Already, existing aquifers are being depleted at a rapid rate and water rationing is a fact of life for most Jordanians.
Annual water demand in Jordan is projected to increase to 1.2 billion cubic meters by 2001, far above the current 750 million cubic meters now available on a sustainable basis. Per capita freshwater potential in Jordan also lags far behind that available in most other countries: for Jordan, it is on the order of a meager 170 cubic meters annually, a third that available in Israel and Syria, a sixth that available in Egypt, and a fortieth that available in the United States. Despite this grim situation, more than half the water entering the Amman water system is unaccounted for, with half of this loss attributed to administrative losses (e.g., inadequate billing and collections) and the other half due to leakages.
Jordan has developed a 14-year, billion plan to guide water investments in the coming years. The plan hinges on two main approaches to narrowing the gap between water supply and water demand. First, it entails improved water supply management. Second, it involves increased water use efficiency. Both approaches aim at ensuring that scarce water supplies are stretched further. Both approaches also figure prominently in USAID's own water sector program. In addition, through its involvement in improving wastewater management, USAID is helping abate serious environmental degradation while augmenting water supplies from a source that would otherwise be wasted. I. Stronger Water Institutions:
Through 1998, strengthening water institutions focused on improving data collection and analysis, and installing new information management systems for the Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI), the Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ) and the Jordan Valley Authority (JVA) and developing key water policies.
During 1999, USAID designed and began a new water policy implementation program focused on reducing groundwater depletion and optimizing the reuse of treated wastewater.
USAID also initiated a new program to encourage private sector participation in the water sector and an activity to strengthen the government's capability to develop, contract and manage major infrastructure projects. With USAID assistance, the MWI is planning a major BOT wastewater project and a private sector management contract for the Wadi Mousa water and wastewater facility under construction.
In the agriculture sector, USAID is providing a variety of technical assistance focused on restructuring irrigation tariffs and increasing cost recovery for JVA. In coordination with other donors, USAID is also engaged in policy dialogue with the Government of Jordan (GOJ) on the need for significant structural reforms in the irrigated agriculture sector. II. Increased Efficiency in Use of Water Resources:
Improving the use of existing water supplies will help stretch scarce water resources even further. This includes reducing losses due to physical leaks, contamination and poor irrigation practices.
In response to a drinking water crisis in 1998, USAID provided emergency assistance to allow the Zai Water Treatment Plant, which serves 40 percent of Amman, to reopen after an instance of contamination. USAID subsequently funded longer-term improvements to the Zai Plant. These improvements enabled the plant to effectively treat the raw water and operate at full capacity throughout the summer of 1999, a period of severe drought.
Furthermore, to ensure that the quality of water supplied to consumers meets national standards, USAID is financing the upgrading of the environmental health laboratory of the Ministry of Health, including the purchase of analytical equipment and staff training.
USAID is also funding a portion (18 of 43 zones) of a multi-donor program to rehabilitate and restructure the entire water network of Amman and it is also rehabilitating ten contaminated springs and wells throughout the country.
Support of a pilot program to enable irrigation extension agents to work directly with farmers in the Jordan Valley to reduce irrigation water use and increase yields is also one of USAID's initiatives in Jordan.
Finally, a new water education and media program carried out by a U.S. NGO in partnership with Jordanian NGOs will be initiated in 2000. III. Improved Quality of Wastewater:
Improving the quality of wastewater is also a USAID priority. Four major projects are currently in the design or construction phase.
Construction of a new wastewater treatment plant near Petra is now about two-thirds complete. Once in operation, the plant will provide modern wastewater facilities for four communities and help to reduce environmental degradation around the Petra National Park, a World Heritage Site.
Design is underway for wastewater conveyance and treatment facilities in the north Jordan Valley and for expansion of the wastewater facility in Aqaba. Construction at both sites is expected to commence in early 2001. These two projects will help Jordan meet its commitments under the 1994 Peace Treaty with Israel to reduce pollution in the Jordan River and the Gulf of Aqaba.
USAID is also planning to support the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant to replace the current plant at As-Samra, which is greatly overloaded. This project is being designed as a BOT with a grant component from USAID. When complete in 2004, the plant will serve over 2 million residents of Greater Amman and Zarka.
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