Jordan Times
Monday, May 31, 2004
King opens global conference on water management
By Rami Abdelrahman
DEAD SEA — His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday opened here a global water conference that seeks to find efficient means and policies to better manage the scarce resource.
Minister of Water and Irrigation Hazem Nasser told the opening session of the International Water Demand Management Conference that by 2025 the amount of available water per capita is expected to drop from 3,500 to 660 cubic metres a year. Nasser said capital investment in developing water supplies is expected to increase from current $20 billion to $45 billion annually — which “can't be affordable.” To meet such a challenge, the minister announced that Kingdom is planning to reduce household water losses in order to save around 100 million cubic metres (mcm) by 2050 — equivalent to the annual municipal consumption of the Greater Amman area. He added that Jordan's plan to meet a growing demand on water also includes enhancing the efficiency of agricultural and irrigation policies and minimising groundwater overpumping in order to save another 90mcm a year. Around 1,000 water experts from more than 30 countries are taking part in the five-day conference, funded by the US Agency for International Development through its Water Efficiency and Public Information for Action Programme.
“We urge our neighbours to adopt similar plans. Together we can indeed make our consumption more efficient by the year 2025,” Nasser told the press conference, adding that the plan was designed in coordination with German Technical Cooperation.
On her part, World Bank Director for Middle East and North Africa Letitia Obeng said solving water problems in the region requires collective efforts by the community, government and NGOs.
“Each country has to find its own balance to support domestic water requirements in line with population and economic growth,” she added. The conference is introducing water demand management as an efficient alternative for desalination, which is an unaffordable solution to water problems in the region.
It will also focus on the Red-Dead Canal as a solution to Jordan's water problems. Nasser told The Jordan Times that parties involved in the canal project have reached an initial agreement to conduct a World Bank-backed feasibility study.
After the opening session, King Abdullah inaugurated an exhibition on water rationing devices and was briefed on the latest techniques in the field.