AMMAN — The government Friday said the past week of rainfall has increased the amount of water in the dams' reservoirs by 2.4 million cubic metres (mcm), but has not managed to top up the Kingdom's dams which still hold only half their normal annual volume at this time of year.

Jordan Valley Authority Secretary General Dureid Mahasneh said the major increase was in the King Talal Dam, which received 1.4 mcm, while the other four main dams collectively received 1 mcm.

Before last week's rainfall, the drop in water levels in the nation's dams was reported as follows: the King Talal Dam has dropped from 72 mcm to 32 mcm, Ziglab Dam from 3.5 mcm to 1.2 mcm and Wadi Arab Dam from 16 mcm to 6 mcm. The Wadi Sha'eb and Kafrain dams as well as the desert dams are nearly empty.

Mahasneh told the Jordan Times that the flow of the Yarmouk River's water has increased from 3.6 cubic metres per second to 5.6, and thus, the additional water should be chanelled to Lake Tiberias where it will be stored and reclaimed next summer.

The Yarmouk provides the Kingdom with 135 mcm a year, while Tiberias supplies 60-80 mcm annually.

The secretary general added that if the winter continues to receive such low amounts of rainfall, the authority will go ahead with a scheme designed to cope with the drought, officially announced by the Cabinet last Saturday.

The government said it would reduce the amount of water pumped to the Southern Ghor region for agricultural use by 50 per cent, to the Northern Ghor by 20 per cent and to the central Ghor by 10 per cent.

Currently, the volume of water used to sustain the country's agricultural industry are estimated at around 650 mcm.

The Water Authority said it is currently studying "difficult" regulations to ration water supplies for bananas and citrus fruits, while summer crops such as mallow, eggplant and corn may be prohibited.

Agriculture Minister Mejhem Khreishah said most of last week's rainfall was absorbed by the soil, and, as a result, the water amounts did not fill the dams.

Khreishah added that the drought has damaged grazing lands, which might not be available next year.

Last week, the minister said the government will set up a fund to ensure JD12 million in interest-free loans to livestock breeders in order to help them buy barley and grain at reduced prices.

He added that the government will also allocate JD500,000 for livestock medicines and that grazing reserves will be open to the public.

These measures are meant to help breeders of over three million heads of livestock in Jordan to provide feed for their animals.

Jordan annually produces only 30,000 tonnes of the 500,000 tonnes of barley required to feed cattle and 13,000 of the 15,000 tonnes of bran required.

Furthermore, the Ministries of Water and Irrigation and Agriculture will provide water for livestock from desert wells while the Ministry of Water and Irrigation will continue to ration water supplies.

The ministry's plan will give priority to drinking water, increasing the amount of water pumped to Amman by 10 mcm from the Yarmouk River and Lake Tiberias. The Amman governorate receives around 90 mcm a year, according to an official report.

The Yarmouk's water will be stored in Al Karameh Dam, which has a 19 mcm capacity, to meet Amman's needs, according to the scheme.

Jordan relies mainly on rainwater to meet domestic, agricultural and industrial needs, which is tapped from surface water sources, such as rivers, and renewable groundwater sources. Rainfall, which has dipped to just two per cent of the seasonal average in December and January, accounts for about 60 per cent of Jordan's water supply.

The drought currently affecting Jordan is the worst since the 1950s, according to the Meteorological Department.