The crisis of drought dams in Jordan and a “critical” water reality

2021-11-07 2021-11-07T11:07:54Z

Weather of Arabia - The head of the Jordan Valley Farmers Union, Adnan Khaddam, warned of a catastrophic drought for the King Talal Dam. He said that the King Talal Dam had reached the silt stage. During <a href="https://twitter.com/AlMamlakaTV/status/1457066976698843139?ref_src=twsrc... interview with the Kingdom Channel, he</a> indicated that the drought of King Talal Dam is a disaster for Jordan Valley farmers. And the matter is not limited to the King Talal Dam only. During the hot summer months, water levels decreased in a number of Jordanian dams in the center and south of the Kingdom, especially the dams of the Al-Walah and Mujib regions, as a result of the decline in rainfall, climate change and high evaporation rates; This led to the drying up of thousands of dunums of agricultural land irrigated by these dams, the death of fish, which threatens an environmental disaster, and the transformation of the ends and remnants of dam water into a health hazard, according to specialists.<h2 style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"> The importance of King Talal Dam and the rest of the dams for the agricultural sector</h2> The dependence on dam water in Jordan has increased with the expansion of irrigated agricultural areas, especially the King Talal Dam, which supplies about 80% of the agricultural areas and units in the Jordan Valley for irrigation purposes, and which constitutes a large part of the national food security in the Kingdom, as well as a source of income for farmers, and any A production shortage in vegetables will lead to an increase in prices in the markets due to a decrease in supply and an increase in demand. <a href="https://www.arabiaweather.com/ar/content/%D9%86%D9%81%D9%88%D9%82-%D8%A3... | The death of large numbers of fish in the Mujib dam</a><h2 style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"> The drying up of dams and a critical water reality</h2> According to the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, the water deficit has reached 15 million cubic meters. The spokesman for the Ministry of Water, Omar Salama, said, "The water situation is very critical and the rainy season has recorded only modest amounts that did not exceed 60%." He pointed out that "the stock of dams is low at less than 80 million cubic meters, especially in the dams that we use for drinking purposes, the Al-Wahda dam and the Mujib dam, and thus there will be severe pressure on us in securing water sources for the regions, and there will be a deficit in some of these areas as a result of modest quotas." The Secretary-General of the Jordan Valley Authority, Manar Mahasneh, stated that "most of the dams depend on the rainy season, and with daily use of the dams, the dam can dry out." Al-Waala Dam water ran out in September 2021, due to the decline in rainfall, according to Al-Mahasna. With regard to the King Talal Dam, she said: "The use of King Talal Dam is a different case from the rest of the dams, as it does not depend on rainfall only, but rather depends on the internal waters of Khirbet As-Samra." According to a source, "the amount of water in the King Talal Dam, which is the most important and most dangerous dam in Jordan, has reached the danger line, as the water is less than 40%." its capacity.<h2 style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"> The reason for rain blockage in Jordan</h2> The main reason for the rain in Jordan during this period is the absence of weather conditions, especially the cases of atmospheric instability that usually increase during the months of October and November, due to the absence of cold air masses in the upper layers of the atmosphere, which come from Europe towards the region, where the method of distributing systems led The weather in the northern hemisphere led to the rush of these cold air masses towards the countries of the Maghreb and the central Mediterranean, which witnessed heavy rainfall during this period (above average). This led to the failure of the cold air masses causing air depressions and states of instability to reach the Levant region and the Arabian Peninsula, and until now there are no indications that the weather systems will change during the next 10 days, in a way that would allow rain to return to the Kingdom (and God knows best), but according to <a href="https://www.arabiaweather.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A... monthly weather forecast</a> issued by the Arab Weather Center, there are expected changes after the middle of the current month - God willing. It is noteworthy that cases of rain drop are repeated in the climatic archives of the Kingdom, as Jordan's climate is characterized by fluctuation of rain from year to year due to its occurrence between two climates; Desert climate and Mediterranean climate. And the mercy of God Almighty remains above everything, and we ask the Almighty to grant us relief.

This article was written originally in Arabic and is translated using a 3rd party automated service. ArabiaWeather is not responsible for any grammatical errors whatsoever.

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