USAID gives $52m to reduce water loss in Jordan

Jordan’s Ministry of Water and Irrigation signed two support and financing agreements on Tuesday with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) worth about $52 million to support the water sector. The first agreement is worth $35m to reduce water loss and improve supply, with an additional contribution from the Jordan Water Company, Miyahuna, worth $10.5m. The second is an agreement for rehabilitation of about 13 kilometres of the King Abdullah Canal, costing $10.9m, with an additional contribution from the German government through the German Development Bank.

According to official sources, the ministry seeks to reduce the targeted annual percentage of water loss from 46 per cent to 25 per cent by 2040.

Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abu Al-Saud said that the Jordanian government is working to implement the national strategic plan to reduce water loss in the Hashemite Kingdom to less than 25 per cent with the support of USAID. He stressed that these agreements concerning loss reduction projects will contribute to increasing the quantities of water for drinking and irrigation, reducing loss, developing water facilities in the Jordan Valley, and reducing loss from the King Abdullah Canal, which contributes to increasing irrigation water supplies to farmers.

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Supporting the national water strategy played a major role in protecting the Kingdom’s limited water resources and confronting the water challenges it faces, explained Abu Al-Saud. This is done by providing technical and technological support, improving company performance and reducing losses in order to work on combatting the water challenges facing the water sector, building a flexible and sustainable water sector and keeping it safe for millions of families across the Kingdom that depend on it heavily.

The first agreement aims to reduce water loss and raise the performance and supply level of services by modernising the infrastructure, improving its management and sustainability, improving the network operating conditions, and building a transmission line from the Hallabat Well in the Azraq area to provide five million cubic metres of water annually. The second agreement aims to reduce water loss, limit illegal use and attacks on the King Abdullah Canal, and improve the services provided. The project is expected to provide about 3.34 million cubic metres of additional water annually.

The Director of the Water and Environment Office at USAID, Laura Gonzalez, emphasised the agency’s commitment to providing technical and technological assistance, improving the performance of water sector companies and upgrading water infrastructure. She pointed out that these efforts are essential for the long-term management of Jordan’s water resources to build a resilient water sector and boost the Kingdom’s water security.

Minister Abu Al-Saud said last month that Jordan has become the poorest country in the world in terms of water. Global statistics, he noted, indicate that a country in which each individual consumes 500 cubic metres annually is classed as a “poor” country, while the share of water for each Jordanian citizen is just 61 cubic metres per annum.

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