AMMAN — A workshop was held on Sunday
to launch feasibility studies for a project to reduce water waste in the Jordan
Valley along the King Abdullah Canal (KAC) and raise the efficiency of distribution
systems, Al-Mamlaka TV reported.
اضافة اعلان
The proposed project is being
launched against a backdrop of severe water scarcity in the Kingdom, where demand
for water has increased five times beyond the domestically available supply and
the flow of the Jordan and Yarmouk rivers has declined from 1.2 billion cubic
meters to less than 200 cubic million meters annually, according to Minister of
Water and Irrigation Mohammad Al-Najjar.
Jordan is one of the countries most-affected
by climate change due to declines and fluctuations in precipitation, Najjar said.
Massive waste of a precious commodityAs one of the Kingdom’s key
irrigation lines, the KAC supplies more than 3,500 hectares with irrigation to produce
around 70 percent of domestic agricultural product. However, around 25.4
percent of the canal’s
waters are wasted, and of this waste, approximately 13.7
percent is due to illegal use, Najjar explained.
Thus, the proposed project, which
involves rehabilitating over 60km of the canal, represents a very important
measure to raise the efficiency of agricultural water conveyance, as well as
provide additional quantities of water for municipal use, he said.
Demand for water has increased five times beyond the domestically available supply and the flow of the Jordan and Yarmouk rivers has declined from 1.2 billion cubic meters to less than 200 cubic million meters annually
It represents a key part of
governmental efforts to develop the
water sector through a clear vision, with measures
to reduce waste in line with a comprehensive strategy developed in cooperation
with US Agency for International Development (USAID).
The minister expressed his
appreciation to donors, especially the German Reconstruction Bank (KFW) and
USAID, for their efforts to assist the Kingdom’s water sector in achieving its
goals, most notably by helping to develop the canal.
Meeting water demand, modernizing
facilitiesSecretary-General of the Jordan
Valley Authority, Manar Mahasneh, said that the authority is exerting all
efforts to further develop the King Abdullah Canal for the purposes of drinking
and irrigation.
The authority is also working on reducing
the canal’s water loss and providing additional quantities for all uses to
bridge the gap between supply and demand and meet 30 percent of the Kingdom’s total
water needs, Mahasneh said.
The project also includes modernizing
the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system for operating and
managing the canal’s facilities, creating modern electronic monitoring systems,
and installing protection systems, as well as installing mechanisms and
equipment to sustain the operation of the canal, the secretary-general noted.
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