Water Policy and Diplomacy in Jordan: Future Prospective

Jordan is one of the poorest countries in water resources in the world that is needs of water for its population exceeds the supplies.  However, in the summer of 2021 the Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI) issued a statement recommended the Jordanian people to save every drop of water and bought amounts of water from Tabrias Lake to recharge the dams. Despite the number of dams Jordan owes and groundwater basins, increasing problems are threatening the water sector including the scarcity of precipitation and hence, groundwater recharge. Moreover, most of surface and groundwater basins in Jordan are shared with surrounding countries, which in turns, decreases the uses of these resources. In the past decade the groundwater resources challenges have dramatically increased due to the flow of millions of refugees and the effect of climate change. Jordan witnessed one of the biggest refugee’s waves in the world from Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Palestinian territories that led to increasing pressure on many sectors, most importantly is the water sector. In this paper, we will evaluate, in one hand, the water strategies and policies took place in the period between 2000 – 2020 and its effect on the current situation. On the other hand, we will provide suggestions and recommendations to decision makers to maintain the water resources and increase the validity to develop the water sector in Jordan in front of all difficulties this important sector is facing which could be summarized in the following points: (a) intensive capturing the rainwater in the valleys and collect it in dams. (b) Finding alternative water resources such as desalination of seawater and treatment of the wastewater. (c) Considering the treated water to be used for non-drinking uses such as manufacturers and agricultural, and, (d) intensive monitoring of water and prevent any kind of illegal uses. The latter point is very important to keep the resources of water, that is, recent investigations led to huge attack on the water resources in the country. Finally, significant agreements must built with nearby countries to determine the water share for each country from the shared water basins. This will improve the strategies to build up a comprehensive and convenient water policy in the country and enhance our understanding of the effect of the water diplomacy in the future water strategy plans.