Technical Cooperation with Jordan

Recording of hydrogeological and topographical data in the Jordanian highlands Source: BGR

Jordan belongs to the ten countries worldwide with the lowest availability of renewable water per capita. Furthermore, Jordan has one of the highest rates of population growth worldwide, amplified by the influx of more than one million Syrian refugees. Large parts of the population are concentrated in only a few urban centers. The pressure on the scarce water resources is enormous. Groundwater abstraction is far beyond acceptable limits with a yearly abstraction rate of 500 MCM and only 275 MCM of yearly recharge (Jordan’s Water Strategy 2016). Adding to that, water quality is deteriorating in many areas. This deterioration is a result of salinization due to groundwater over-abstraction, intensive use of fertilizers, inappropriate handling of agricultural and industrial residues and uncontrolled deposition of solid waste and wastewater. Drinking water supply, which largely depends on groundwater, is increasingly impaired by these practices. Most affected by the increasing shortage of water and the deterioration of water quality are the urban and rural poor.

In the sectors water, employment, and education Jordan is one of the partner countries of German Development Cooperation. The main objective of the cooperation is to support an integrated, economically, ecologically and socially sustainable water resources management.

Recording of hydrogeological and topographical data in the Jordanian desert Source: BGR

BGR has been active in Jordan on behalf of the BMZ since the late 1950s. With a total number of 22 projects, Jordan is one of the most important cooperation partners for BGR worldwide. The focal areas of this long-term cooperation have strongly changed throughout the past decades. In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the cooperation with Jordan aimed at building up the Geological Department; support was provided in the fields of groundwater exploration, the exploitation of phosphate deposits, the elaboration of a Jordanian water-supply plan, geochemical investigations and surveys on Jordan’s oil shale resources. Since the 1980s, the main focus of cooperation shifted to groundwater-related issues, including hydrogeological mapping, the elaboration of ground-water models, support in the field of groundwater protection, the provision of advisory services to the Water Authority of Jordan and contributions to the National Water Master Plan. In recent years the focus is mainly on a sustainable management and protection of Jordan’s groundwater resources.

Hydrogeological field work in the Jordanian desert Source: BGR

The main cooperation partners on the Jordanian side is the Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI) and its subordinate authority the Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ).

BGR closely cooperates with the GIZ water programme and with the KfW financial cooperation programme in Jordan.

50 Years of International Cooperation between BGR and Jordan - A Story of Success

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Ongoing Projects:

• Groundwater Resources Management
• Improved Groundwater Resources Management in Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis