Jordan’s Water Resources: Increased Demand with Unreliable Supply

Jordan is a small county located in the Middle East. Jordan has borders with Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, and Israel (Figure 1). Jordan was established in 1921 and has very limited natural resources. Jordan's current (2008) population is 6.5 million. The country has a total land area of 750,000 km 2 , about one third (92,300 km2) of which is dry land while the other two thirds (329,000 km2) are ir- rigated land. Jordan is considered as a water poor country due to unreliable and shortages in the supply of water sector. This makes it very difficult to meet the required and steadily increasing demand. Impact of climate change adds a layer to the uncertainty on the supply side of Jordan's water portfolio. This paper addresses the water supply challenges that Jordan faces and what has been accomplished to improve supply and/or reduce demand. Many projects were undertaken or planned by the Jordanian government to increase the water supply and improve its relia- bility. Completing the proposed projects will result in Jordan meeting its water demand (1). Otherwise, the Jordanian Government implement some or all the proposed short term solu- tions as presented in this paper.