Jordan- Emergency water plan in place for next summer 

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) The Ministry of Water and Irrigation has established an emergency water plan for next summer in case the coming winter fails to bring adequate rainfall, a ministry official announced recently.

Under the emergency strategy, the ministry will pump water from the King Talal Dam to farmers growing irrigated crops and trees, while the eastern King Abdullah Canal will be allocated for drinking purposes, Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abu Saud told reporters at a press conference on Saturday.

"Water is an issue of concern for His Majesty King Abdullah," Abu Saud said, adding that Prime Minister Nader Dahabi recently noted on a visit to the ministry that water is "no longer considered a service but a strategic topic".

Jordan received less than 4.3 billion cubic metres of rainwater this year, which is just over half of the long-term annual average of 8.5 billion cubic metres of water, according to officials.

Despite announcing in early June that the Kingdom is expected to experience a drought with major dams holding only 40 per cent of their total storage capacity, Abu Saud described the current water situation this summer as "very good".

He noted that the amount of water pumped to the Kingdom at present is the same as in 2007, however, population growth and development have maximised demand for water resources.

The minister said that the current summer water distribution programme, under which consumers receive water once a week, is a result of the water deficit, estimated at around 600 million cubic metres annually.

He expressed hope that the deficit will decline in the future, noting that once the multipurpose Red-Dead Water Conveyance Project is complete, the water distribution programme will be cancelled.

"Until that time, we hope we will not be forced to distribute the water once every ten days during the coming years if the water shortage continues," Abu Saud said.