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June 20, 2008
A crisis breeds co-operation
Water shortage in the Middle East leads to forward thinking.
RHONDA SPIVAK
The depletion of the Dead Sea and the pollution of the Jordan River are problems common to Israel and Jordan that appear to be motivating the two countries to co-operate in supporting the building of a Red Sea-Dead Sea canal.
The water crisis in Jordan is very apparent as one travels throughout the country, from north to south. Dieter Viewerger, a German archeologist who has been leading the excavation of a site at Tel-Zera, in the far north of Jordan, said that Jordanians understand that the country is desperately water-poor.
The Tel-Zera site, which Viewerger and his team have been excavating since 2000, was part of an ancient trade route from Egypt to Damascus, dating back 6,000 years. From Egypt, the route went through Acre and Afula in Israel, through the Jordan Valley to Tel-Zera and then to Damascus.
"In order to found an ancient city such as Tel-Zera, there has to be a nearby water source for it. The region here used to be full of water and was all naturally green. There is still green here but now the wadis are all dry since the water is being pumped to the growing city of Irbid," said Viewerger.
Irbid, which has a large Palestinian refugee camp, has a population of more than half a million people and is Jordan's second largest city after Amman. Since Palestinians have the highest birth rate in Jordan, "Irbid's need for water is going to grow in the future," Viewerger added.
From the top of Tel-Zera, Viewerger pointed to the large Wadi Arab dam and water reservoir that the Jordanians built nearby. "The water in the reservoir isn't for drinking, but is for agricultural use only," he said.
Many Jordanian Palestinians come to the town of Umm Qais to look out longingly onto the view of the Kinneret, Israel's source of fresh water. "There is no water in the north of Jordan. I never go to [the] beach in Jordan, because to get to [a] real beach I'd have to drive to Aquaba. This is eight hours away," said Ibrahim Al-Arousan. There is only one public beach on the [Jordanian side] of the Dead Sea and it's not so good to swim."
Outside of the city of Salt, in Wadi ash-Shu'aib, a valley named after the prophet Jethro, there is a small stream with picnic grounds beside it and children swimming. As Mohammad Janajrah, a tour guide, said, "It is a very popular place because there are so few places with water around here."
About a third of the water used in Jordan comes from non-sustainable or non-renewable sources.
Extensive pumping from the once- abundant Azraq oasis has brought it to the point of collapse. Azraq's salty brine is seeping into the freshwater aquifers and turning Amman's water brackish.
"We don't drink Amman's tap water, nor do other Americans I know here." said Caroline Davies, an American professor in the field of geosciences, living in Amman. She also said that in the summer, "Amman suffers from increasingly acute water shortages," as its piped water often fails for days at a time."
About two months ago, the Jordan Times reported that the Jordanian Water Company (Miyahuna) will temporarily suspend water supply to residents who, having received a warning, continue to misuse water. The company will be sending out inspection teams to monitor water misuse. Jordanians will not be allowed to wash a car using a hose or water gardens during the day.
Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that King Abdullah has given enthusiastic support to the proposed building by a group of Israeli and foreign businessman and bankers of a $3 billion canal between the Red Sea and Dead Sea that would desalinate the water, produce hydroelectric power and yield clean water, create jobs and booms in tourism for Jordanians, Palestinians and Israelis.
The planned Valley of Peace initiative, which has been advocated by Israeli President Shimon Peres, will begin with the building of a 166-kilometre long canal between Israel and Jordan. It could be developed to include a significant increase in the number of new hotels in the Dead Sea area in both Jordan and Israel, and yield a potentially unprecedented amount of regional co-operation.
The plan, which has been labelled a national project in Israel, is also to include the eventual integration of the Israeli and Jordanian railways systems, linking Irbid to Haifa and Aqaba, Gaza and Ashdod in the south - the goal being to create railway integration that will link the Middle East, through Israel's ports, with Europe.
Ayman Fana and his older brother, Christian Arabs from Egypt, have come to Jordan to work in the tourism industry. "I came to Jordan [five years ago] because I make more money. The Jordanian dinar is worth much more than the Egyptian pound. Jordan has peace with Israel. King Abdullah is good king. Jordan needs tourism in the Dead Sea. It is good if this [canal] works."
Rhonda Spivak is a freelance writer based in Winnipeg.
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