Jordan: Water Scarcity: Difference between revisions

It is groundwater stored in aquifers rather than surface water that provides Jordan with most of its domestic water supply. It is the only source of water in some areas of the country. The depth of groundwater is highly variable, ranging from 2 to 1,000m, and the main reserves are found in the south with a long-term safe yield estimate of about 90 MCM per year for 100 years.<ref name="Alqadi" /> The total long-term safe yield of all renewable groundwater resources in Jordan from 12 groundwater basins comprising several groundwater aquifer systems has been estimated at 275 MCM.<ref name="Mohsen" /> However, exploitation of this water resource is not without its problems, as salt levels vary between aquifers from 170 to 3,000 parts per million as a result of surrounding geological formations (calcium, magnesium and sodium leech into the water to various degrees, making the water [[wikipedia:en:Brackish water|“brackish”]]).<ref name="Alqadi" /> “Each source of groundwater needs to be considered independently in order to achieve effective management of the risk of salinity associated with each formation’s chemistry.”<ref name="Alqadi" /> There are also non-renewable fossil water supplies (i.e. resources that are not recharged through rainfall) that are being extracted at a rate of 77 MCM.<ref name=”Kubursi”> Kubursi, Atif, et al. "Water scarcity in Jordan: Economic instruments, issues and options." Economic Research Forum Working Paper Series. No. 599. 2011.</ref>