Optimization for Sustainable Water Resources Management (OPTIMA) Zarqa River Basin Fourth management board meeting December 2006 Milan, Italy

NameSpecialtyGender Muhammad ShatanawiWater ResourcesMale Jawad al-BakriGIS and Land useMale Maisa’a ShammoutNatural ResourcesFemale Sawsan NaberIrrigated AgricultureFemale Nedal al-AfayfehGIS in Land and WaterMale Luay SalamehGraduate studentMale Project Team

Contribution to WP 00 Project coordination and administrative Month 1 to 36 Lead Partner:ESS, C 01 Level of Efforts by UJO1 m/m Activities: Coordination with the Jordanian team Supervising day-to-day activities Communicating with other partners regarding various activities Presenting the project objective and activities in media, meetings and conferences

Contribution to WP 01 Requirements and Constraints Month 1 to 36 Lead PartnerFEEM, C 02 Level of Efforts by UJO2 m/m Activities: Stakeholders were identified Gender information were obtained Source of information were identified Data availability against requirements were defined Data constrains were identified Status: D01 (D1.1 and D1.2) were submitted by FEEM

Contribution to WP 02 Socio-Economic Framework Month 1 to 12 Lead PartnerIRMCO, C 06 Level of Efforts by UJO1 m/m Activities: Tasks Completed Status: D2.1, D2.2, D2.3 and D2.4 Completed

Contribution to WP 03 Analytical Tools Month 3 to18 Lead PartnerESS, C 01 Level of Efforts by UJO1 m/m Activities: Partly completed and the rest are in progress WRM: completed for the baseline scenario WRM: completed for the future scenario Optimization model: completed output from WRM and constraints and Instrument are being tested DMC: in progress and is being tested

Contribution to WP 04 Data comilation analysis Month 6 to24 Lead PartnerINTERGEO, C 04 Level of Efforts by UJO4 m/m Activities: Water Technology Data Base 4 Technologies has been entered  Desalination concerning Jordan case  Wastewater treatment  Irrigation water management  Water Harvesting  Rehabilitation of pipe network

Activities: Compilation, analysis and processing of data  GIS Data  Hydrologic data  Economic data  Institution data  Population data Status: D04.1 and D04.2 Completed

Contribution to WP 05 Land use changes, RS and GIS data Month 6 to 24 Lead PartnerNCRS, C 08 Level of Efforts by UJO1 m/m Activities: Completed Status: D 05.1 (land use data report completed)

Contribution to WP 06 System Integration and Implementation Month 6-24 Lead PartnerESS, C 01 Level of Efforts by UJO1 m/m Activities: Able to use the WRM from web server at ESS. Use the forum, problem reporting, access to deliverable and other tools. Status: D 06.1 completed

Contribution to WP 10 Case Study Month Lead PartnerUJO Level of Efforts by UJO1 m/m Status: Problem analysis completed and submitted

Base line Scenario  The basin is the most important basin in Jordan as it host more then 50% of the population.  The water resources system in the basin is very complicated as it consist of :  Groundwater for domestic, industry and agriculture  Inter basin transfer of groundwater for domestic uses  Pumping of surface water to Amman for domestic uses  Desalination of brackish water for Domestic and industry  Treatment of surface water for domestic  Wastewater treatment plant that discharge to river  Runoff water or catchments contribution to the river.

 The water quality issues due to the effluent coming out of the 4 treatment plants of BOD 5 > 60 have created a quality issue for irrigation.

Building the Baseline Scenario

Stakeholders workshop

The number of participants in this workshop was 30 persons representing all stakeholders that were already identified for the project and 9 from the University of Jordan and 3 from C zero. They represent decision making bodies (Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment and Jordan Meteorological Department), research and academic institutions, industries, farmers, water distributing company, civil societies and NGOs. Most of the participants are at mid-level or high level management.

The opinion of stakeholders to the most important problems. IssuevotesMost important problems Water Management18-Difficulties in law enforcement (8/18). -Competition among sectors (4/18). -Lack of public awareness and extension programs (3/18). -No single responsible authority (3/18). Water Demand8-High demand compared to supply (6/8). -Industrial activities and absence of cropping pattern and appropriate land use (2/8). Water supply11-Over abstraction compared to safe yield (7/11). -Climate change and rainfall variability (4/11) Water Quality9-Deterioration of groundwater quality due to over abstraction (4/9). -Overgrazing and unsupervised agricultural activities (3/9). -Industrial pollution and solid wastes (2/9)

List of the most important objectives and votes of stakeholders NumberObjectiveNumber of votes 1Minimization of over pumping29 2Enforcement of law42 3Reaching quality standards26 4Reduction of variability risk19 5Optimization of water use for farmers25 6Increase efficiency of irrigation systems25 7Coordinated and proper land use planning22 8Minimize Difference between supply and demand 8 9Reserve vegetation14

Planned Action The focal point for planned action was the Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI). A discussion was made between the different participants and decision makers and experts from the MWI. The planned actions that were formally approved by the MWI and might affect future optimization of water resources in the basin can be summarized as: Additional Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) at Zarqa, west of Jarash and other sites within the basin. Upgrade and expansion of existing WWTP's. Reduction in groundwater extraction for irrigation and municipal use (by law). Reallocation of water to high value products (industry and Municipal) Conveyance of Disi water to Amman. Desalinization of Zara-Ma'een and Abu Zighan water. Red Sea- Dead Sea Canal (after 2020).

Steering Committee Meeting

Steering Committee Members Dr. Issa Nsour Ministry of Water and Irrigation Eng. Adnan ZawahrehMinistry of Environment Eng. Sa’ad Abu HamourLIMA/ Amman Water Distribution Company (Meyahuna) Eng. Hussein Shafa’amriZarqa Chamber of Industry Dr. Ghada al-NaberNCARTT/ Ministry of Agriculture Eng. Hala NobaniJordan Environment Society Eng. Mohammed ShahbazBadia Research and Development Center Eng. Susan TahaMinistry of Water and Irrigation Eng. Sulieman GhezawiJordan Farmers’ Union Dr. Muhammad ShatanawiUniversity of Jordan

Set of Constraints

New Scenario 2010 Based on the contact with the stakeholder and meeting with the steering committee, a new scenario has been built taking into consideration all changes that might occur from 2004 to Population growth from 2.72 to 3.3 million. New supplies of water like Disi New treatment plants Expansion of cities

Contribution to WP 14 Evaluation: post-optimal analysis Month Lead PartnerCOR Level of Efforts by UJO1 m/m Involvement of stakeholder Interaction on the first workshop Direct and phone contact regarding constraints Steering committee meetings Data collection and verification from MWI

Contribution to WP 15 Comparative analysis: generic lessons and best practice Month Lead PartnerARD, 09 Level of Efforts by UJO3 m/m Status: Organize Jordan case study results in a common conceptual framework within a common set of indicators for further analysis

Contribution to WP 16 Dissemination and exploitation Month 3-36 Lead PartnerIRMCO, 06 Level of Efforts by UJO2 m/m Activities: The project has been posted at the UNESCO Chair website under the domain of the university of Jordan. The objectives of the project and some of its results have been presented in the Mediterranean water seminar which was organized on Oct. 10, 2006 jointly between UNESCO Chair and the Spanish Cultural Institute of the Spanish Embassy in Amman.

DateDescription of initiative July 2007Publication of scientific paper from the results of the project. Sept.2007 for one yearPost OPTIMA involvement of the stakeholder in the activities of Zarqa basin To be determined laterOrganize a public awareness seminar in cooperation with IUCN in Amman, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Water and Irrigation.