BACKGROUND
	PROJECT OBJECTIVES
	CURRENT STATUS

Many specialists have studied Jordan’s water problems. Individuals or companies, they come from both within the government and the local academic community, and from outside the country, as donor staff or consultants and advisors. The many variables and lack of hard data in the sector affect estimates of what is going on presently, and certainly affects the projections of what may happen in the future. It should come as little surprise, therefore, that this has resulted in a disturbing range of estimates as to the amount of water being used (or lost or “stolen”) and by what category of user, where this water is coming from, and in what amounts. This report used MWI estimates as much as possible, and attempted to explain the basis of any different conclusions suggested in this Report. There are few “correct” numbers, and therefore disagreements on specific numbers should not cloud the findings of this Report. The objective is to concentrate on whether the numbers used as a basis for the findings and conclusions fall within a reasonable range that supports those findings and conclusions, and suggested directions for additional support.

Residents of the capital city receive less than 100 lpcd of water. Depending on the zone they live in, they receive their entire supply only one or two days per week during the long, hot, rain-less summer period, for less than 24-hours on those days. The situation for most people living in communities outside the capital is little better. This constitutes a crisis. The outcry is muted because people of means cope with this situation by having made investments of JD 500 to JD 1,000 for a system of pumps, piping and ground and roof storage tanks to meet their basic demands when the utility’s water mains are empty. The crisis can only get worse as the total amount of economically available water resources peaks and levels off, population nearly doubles in 20 years, and the people of Jordan’s expectations increase for an improved standard of living, including higher water use.

Over the past decade, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI), with the support of its donors, has made important gains in addressing the challenge of satisfying the rapidly growing water demands of its communities, industries and farmers. An estimated 96% of its people have piped water. Moreover, this has been achieved in the face of a very limited natural supply of water to start with, complicated by four years of recent drought and several periods of impact increases in population. Regional unrest in the late 1940s, 1960’s and 1990s resulted in the return of many expatriate Jordanians and Palestinians, at levels that may account for 40% or more of the current population. Much has been achieved toward achieving the goal of meeting users’ demands, and at this time, steps are underway toward the implementation of practically every economically feasible project to add more water to Jordan’s available resources. The principal task now facing Jordan lies largely in strengthening MWI and the entire water sector to make sure that, when developed, all water resources are efficiently and wisely allocated and used to meet the coming challenges.