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Jordan: Water Scarcity: Difference between revisions
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===Surface water resources=== | ===Surface water resources=== | ||
Jordan has three large rivers, the Jordan, the Zarqa and the Yarmuk, but all have become highly undependable. The River Jordan is the main water source for both Jordan and Israel, but as it is saline (salty), it is not suitable for drinking or irrigation without undergoing filtration first. It is also small in comparison to other major rivers – the natural [[File:Jordan River, Jordan.jpg|thumb||left|Jordan River, Jordan]]discharge of the Jordan river basin of approximately 1,500 million m3 is 65 times less than the Nile’s and 400 times less than the Mississippi’s.<ref name="Black" /> There is also huge variability in discharge year on year from the River Jordan, with reductions of up to 40% in drought periods. It has also been reduced to “nothing more than a creek” <ref name="Hadadin" /> as a result of upstream [[File:Kingtalaldam.jpg|thumb|right|King Talal Dam]]diversions and over-pumping by Syria and Israel.<ref name="Mohsen" /> The River Zarqa meanwhile receives large amounts of municipal, industrial and agricultural effluent, making it close to unusable for domestic and irrigation purposes during the dry season, while the River Yarmuk, while less stressed, is also a receptacle for municipal wastewater. <ref name="Hadadin" /> | Jordan has three large rivers, the Jordan, the Zarqa and the Yarmuk, but all have become highly undependable. The River Jordan is the main water source for both Jordan and Israel, but as it is saline (salty), it is not suitable for drinking or irrigation without undergoing filtration first. It is also small in comparison to other major rivers – the natural [[File:Jordan River, Jordan.jpg|thumb||left|Jordan River, Jordan]]discharge of the Jordan river basin of approximately 1,500 million m3 is 65 times less than the Nile’s and 400 times less than the Mississippi’s.<ref name="Black" /> There is also huge variability in discharge year on year from the River Jordan, with reductions of up to 40% in drought periods. It has also been reduced to “nothing more than a creek” <ref name="Hadadin" /> as a result of upstream [[File:Kingtalaldam.jpg|thumb|right|King Talal Dam]]diversions and over-pumping by Syria and Israel.<ref name="Mohsen" /> The River Zarqa meanwhile receives large amounts of municipal, industrial and agricultural effluent, making it close to unusable for domestic and irrigation purposes during the dry season, while the River Yarmuk, while less stressed, is also a receptacle for municipal wastewater. <ref name="Hadadin" /> | ||
With relatively few surface water resources available, there are not surprisingly few dams and reservoirs in Jordan. The largest reservoir is the King Talal Dam, but it faces the dual problems of erratic river flows that reduce the trapped water level below the dam's capacity of 86 MCM, while pollution from factories dumping wastewater into tributaries leading to the dam raises it salinity and chemical and metal levels.<ref name="Mohsen" /> | |||
===Groundwater resources=== | ===Groundwater resources=== | ||