The Restoration and Economic Development of Zarqa River Basin International Union for Conservation of Nature Embassy of Spain In Jordan Technical Cooperation Office-Amman

Project Setting The “The Restoration and Economic Development of Zarqa River Basin” Project, is one of the demonstration projects within the REWARD Programme initiated by the DGCS/ WESCANA Project and supported by the IUCN Water and Nature Initiative (WANI), funded by DGIS/ The Netherlands. Up-scaling of methodologies and insights, are realized through the sub-networks on different water resource systems of REWARD’s Regional Water Knowledge Network.

Country Overview Jordan has a critical shortage of water resources Water use per capita is among the lowest in the world (150 CMC) High competition for scarce resources for agriculture, industry and households. Wastewater is becoming a resource for agriculture gradually replacing freshwater. There are only three river basins in Jordan: Yarmouk River, Jordan River and Zarqa River

Zarqa River Basin description 3,900 Km 2 area, c.a. 300 mm/year annual rainfall annual stream flow about 63 MCM Zarqa River is perennial with: summer monthly flows of 2 to 3 MCM; winter monthly flows of 5 to >8 MCM MCM Million Cubic Meter

River Flow Withdrawals for water supply from aquifers in the upper Amman-Zarqa groundwater basin have reduced the natural base flow of the Zarqa River, which reflected negatively on the flow quantity of the river

River Flow The flow characteristics have been further modified by the discharge to the river of treated domestic and industrial wastewater that compose nearly all of summer flow and substantially degrade the water quality.

The Three Main Problems Associated with Zarqa River: 1- Decrease of Natural Flow. 2- Pollution by Industrial wastewater and solid wastes disposal. 3- Pollution by partially-treated domestic wastewater.

Socio-economic aspects River watercourse length is 70 KM passes through 4 governorates 65% of Jordan’ total population and more than 90% of the small medium industries are concentrated in this area. About 10,000 donums are used for agriculture in the watershed = 2380 H.

State of Environment in Zarqa Basin Environmental components that are at risk in the Amman-Zarqa Basin: High air pollution due to the surrounding industrial areas (thermal power plants, oil refinery, industrial stack emissions); Over pumping of groundwater for agriculture, drinking and industrial uses Surface and groundwater resources pollution caused by wastewater from partially operated treatment plants.

Environment increasing risks Solid waste management is a big challenge in a heavily populated and industrialized region; Poverty and degraded livelihood conditions magnified the environmental impacts.

Zarqa River Basin Restoration Long Term Goal : restoration of the river basin economic development Purpose: Test and demonstrate a systemic and participatory approach for planning, development and management of the watershed/river basin at the intermediate and local level good analysis and planning contributing to more effective and economically sound water resource management and improving rural livelihoods, environmental and water security. promoting increased participation and representation of stakeholders, mainly end-users of the planning and decision making processes. through by

Project Partners Ministry of Water and Irrigation AWO Ministry of Agriculture Project Donors Embassy of Spain In Jordan Technical Cooperation Office- Amman The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature

Project Stakeholders 1.Zarqa Governorate. 2.Balqa Governorate. 3.Jodan Valley Authority. 4.Zarqa & Balqa NGOs. 5.Zarqa Chamber of Commerce. 6.Care International. 7.Ardha Municipality/ Balqa. 8.Directorate of Public Works. 9.Zarqa Municipality. 10. Russeifeh Municipality. 11. Zarqa Public Hospital 12. Zarqa Directorate of Social Development. 13. Balqa Directorate of Health 14. Balqa Directorate of Social Development. 15. Zarqa University 16. All Jodan Youth Commission

Constrains to Improved Water Management Unclear governance of the water basin, such as difficulties in the enforcement of water legislations and policies. Absence of inter-stakeholder agreement. limited knowledge on socio-economic consequences. Lack of : I nformation on water and environmental flows in the basin (interaction of ground water with surface water, etc) Awareness on water conservation and management Experience / knowledge with systematic approaches applied to water resource management

Project beneficiaries From the local Trough the intermediate To the top Best Practice for Communities within the river basin, farmers, CBOs, industries. Industries and local government institutions. National government institutions Other river basin in the region or in other areas.

Physical Problems Tree for ZRR

GW safely yield = 87.5 MCM/yr for domestic Actual use = for Industrial Over use = 62.3 MCM/yr for Agr.

Capacity Building 5 Governance Institutional Consolidation process 4 PWPC + DST 3 3 or 4 pilot sites for testing approach 2 Pilot projects “on the ground” 7 Technical studies on selected information 6 Planning + SDCA + Long Term strategy development 1 Long term strategic plan for Zarqa river restoration & management

Project Components Increasing the influence of stakeholders on the planning and decision-making process for water resources management. Water resources, environmental and socio-economic assessments. Development and endorsement of a master plan for the watershed/river restoration. Development of system analysis tools (PMC + IWMIS) to support restoration master plans. Development and implementation of different pilot projects to test solutions for river Basin restoration. Empowerment of local communities, private sector, NGOs and government agencies. Documenting the learning process and sharing information and knowledge at local, on a regional and national level.

EXPECTED RESULTS 1.An effective “River Contract” i.e the organizational structure and operational tools for Zarqa River Basin Master Plan implementation 2. Empowering stakeholders GOs, NGOs, private sector, CBOs and end-users - in the water resource planning and management processes 3. Enabling the implementation of similar activities in the other areas of the region and country. 4.Development of economic and social issues in the river basin due to the improved environment.

Progress so far Institutional arrangement : – Steering committee was established at national level to ensure the participation and influencing the decision makers at national level. – Establishing Zarqa River Basin Rehabilitation Unit(ZRBRU) within the MOEnv structure to ensure the sustainability of the project. – Conducted Institutional Review of the organizational structure of MoEnv and Zarqa River Basin Rehabilitation Unit to come up with the best options for establishing the unit and its sustainable institutional linkages within the Ministry of Environment and other line ministries and agencies Stakeholders Dialogue(communication platform): – Establishing local water management committees at pilots sites’ level. – Empowering the Local committees including the end-users to participate actively in decision making –process for water resources management. – Establishing communication channels between the relevant stakeholders.

Capacity Building – Conduct Rural Rapid Appraisal to whole Zarqa river to select three –four pilot sites to Implement pilots to test technical interventions based on stakeholders' priorities – Assess training needs for the relevant stakeholders and for ZRRU, in order to build their capacity on river rehabilitation. – Translate three key documents in river restoration,water and Environment management authored by IUCN(Flow, Pay and Ecosystem approach ) based on the training needs assessment results to build the capacity of the relevant stakeholders in river rehabilitation(in term of technical knowledge and awareness raising).

– Training workshops,public awareness campaigns and dialogue session were conducted and targeted the stakeholders on several issues concerning water governance such as,PRA, water resources assessments, scenario building,water strategic planning....etc. – The environmental legislations/ laws were reviewed and assessed. – Amendments and recommendations were identified for better enforcement of the environmental legislations.

Practical Learning – Four pilot sites were selected upon a certain criteria were developed by the national steering committee as follows : Russeifeh Site (up stream ) Al Zarqa Site (up stream ) Al Balqa Site (down stream ) – In depth social and water information were collected by local stakeholders to enhance their involvement. – Local River Rehabilitation Strategic Plans were developed in participatory way for the pilot sites.

- Three pilot Projects were identified by the relevant stakeholders and will be implemented in selected pilot sites that aim to: Reduce pollution load dumped. Improve the environmental situation. Green the area. Promote effective governance. Demonstrate how an effective planning and management relationship can be developed and sustained between a local community, CBOs, private sector and respective government departments for improved water resource management and river rehabilitation. - Two schools were selected within Zarqa River Basin to enhance the participation of the students in the river rehabilitation and water management.

Lesson Learned The commitment of the Government of Jordan to take the policy, institutional and legal measures are necessary to implement and sustain the river rehabilitation The availability and exchanging of the information between relevant stakeholders is core issue for better water governance. Reverse years of river pollutions is possible through concerted coordination between the line ministries and local communities Community empowerment is core issue for real participation in river rehabilitation process. Schools are focal points for technical knowledge and awareness raising of local communities. Water issues become the main concerns for the local communities,due to the water shortage and high demand.