Want more water? Expect much less of it over the next few years

Jordan

Published: 2017-11-07 17:12

Last Updated: 2024-03-29 06:09


This number and duration of droughts over the coming years will increase. (Twitter)
This number and duration of droughts over the coming years will increase. (Twitter)

If you live in Jordan, then you will have gotten used to receiving water in your household, from the Jordan Water Company, just once a week.

If that wasn’t concerning enough, Jordan’s water crisis is about to get far worse, according to a recent study by Stanford University.

Climate change will play a role in the country receiving less rainfall and in increasing annual temperatures - by 4.5 Celsius - by 2100, the researchers said.

This means double the number and duration of droughts over the coming years.

Jordan is amongst the Middle Eastern countries that will “experience significantly increased water stress driven by climate change,” according to a warning issued by the World Bank in August.

Because vital winter rainfall is becoming increasingly erratic, Jordan’s reservoirs are only one-fifth full; an alarming new record low.

More than half of the Kingdom’s water goes towards agriculture. However, water irrigation remains “heavily subsidised, and wastage is a major issue,” reported Al Jazeera.

Water theft is another serious problem. While the government is has slightly increased the price of water to crack down on the illegal use of water, the Assistant Secretary-General in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Ali Subah, said that “the country views desalination as the answer to its water issues,” according to Al Jazeera.

However, the recent regional diplomatic crisis has caused delays in receiving desalinated water.

Perhaps the solution to Jordan’s lack of rainfall could be cloud-seeding. More than 50 cloud-seeding operations took place in Dubai in February, bringing to the city an extraordinary amount of rain.

The UAE's Rain Enhancement Programme - through cloud-seeding - has increased the Emirate’s rainfall by 10-30 per cent over the past few years.

You can read more about cloud-seeding in Dubai here.