UN-Habitat, GAM officials discuss flash floods mitigation project

AMMAN - Officials from the Greater Amman Municipality and UN-Habitat on Thursday met to discuss a Japanese-government funded project titled: "Strengthening the Social Stability and Resilience of Vulnerable Jordanian Communities and Syrian Refugees in Amman against Flash Floods".اضافة اعلان

Mayor of Amman Yousef Shawrbeh said today's meeting was dedicated to discussing the "Al-Zuhoor Green Triangle" project, a pilot green infrastructure project that aims to demonstrate two concepts for rainwater management: "Bioactive Stormwater Trapping, and Rainwater Capture".

The project includes three phases: "Initial design and feasibility study for flood mitigation and intervention measures"; "Flood risk assessment and risk mapping study", and "Design and implementation of an emergency short-term infrastructure intervention". The first and second phases have already been completed, and the third phase is underway.

The project, funded by a Japanese grant of $978,700, aims to improve protection and resilience against floods in Amman, reduce the vulnerability of local communities and Syrian refugees to flash floods, and strengthen the capacity of the government and communities to improve urban flood management.

It also aims to identify the most flood-vulnerable areas and hotspots in central Amman, and build the technical capacity of GAM, the local community and Syrian refugees to prepare for and manage flash flood risks.

Shawarbeh said that GAM has adopted regional and global practices to mitigate the effects of flash floods and use rainwater to irrigate the surrounding areas, revealing that GAM needs to implement more than 100 similar projects to serve all citizens and residents of the city.

Japanese Ambassador to Jordan, SHIMAZAKI Kaoru, underlined the importance of this project to respond and manage the risks of flash floods, calling for involving the local community in the project.

In turn, the regional representative of UN-Habitat to the Arab States, Erfan Ali, said that technical recommendations produced by a study of flood risk assessment in central Amman included short, medium, and long-term solutions to address flash floods. He pointed out that the project is the first at the urban level to slow down and filter rainwater and use it for irrigation and increase the green area.

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