Context
With less than 150 cubic metres of water available per capita each year, Jordan ranks among the world's most water-poor countries. This situation is exacerbated by the impacts of climate change. Water resources are currently so overexploited that sustainable supply to the population, industry and agriculture is under serious threat. Strong population growth and an influx of refugees from neighbouring conflict areas are causing an increasingly difficult situation. If the nature and level of water consumption do not change drastically, the consequences for people and the environment will be impossible to predict.
Objective
The programme aims to promote the sustainable and efficient use of available water resources and a fair resolution of interests between households, industry and agriculture.
Approach
The project provides strategic, specialist and technical support for Jordan's water institutions, thereby making a key contribution towards more efficient water resources management.
The programme is also supporting Jordan's water utilities as they reduce water losses, compile complete customer and consumption data, take actions to cover costs, train skilled workers and managers and create more efficient organisational structures and processes.
The project works directly with water users, especially farmers. One key objective is to reduce illegal groundwater extraction. Farmers receive assistance so that they can use more treated wastewater and deploy more efficient irrigation techniques.
The Water Wise Woman Initiative aims to establish a nationwide network of female water experts. The initiative trains and certifies female plumbers so that they can perform repairs in homes and conduct educational work in communities.
GIZ is implementing this programme in partnership with KfW Development Bank, the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) and the Centre for International Migration and Development (CIM). Several German companies are involved through development partnerships with the private sector.
Results achieved so far
The partner ministry in Jordan has noticeably improved its management skills as a result of strategic advice and support on water framework planning.
Today water utilities are operating as decentralised, semi-autonomous companies with private sector participation in six governorates. The quality and quantity of water provided to roughly six million people has improved. Private sector involvement has improved water utilities' financial situation and service for consumers, especially in the middle governorates between the north and south of the country.
The Highland Water Forum, a platform for participatory groundwater management in the highlands, is working to reduce groundwater extraction and make the use of the available water resources more efficient.
Water distribution has become more reliable and farm yields have risen thanks to the establishment of water user associations that now cover about 40 per cent of farmers in the Jordan Valley. Scarce water resources are now used more efficiently and farmers have become more willing to pay water tariffs that cover costs.
About 30 per cent of farmers in the Jordan Valley have been trained in using treated wastewater for irrigation farming. The fresh water urgently needed to supply the population is to be replaced by using treated wastewater and brackish water for agricultural purposes in a way that meets environmental and health standards.