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Water Scarcity In jordan
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Water Scarcity
IN JORDAN
by Haylee Vella
8Jackson
11.9.2018
Where is Jordan?
Jordan is situated in the Northern & Eastern Hemisphere in South Western Asia. More specifically, in the Middle East.
Where?
Jordan is bordered by the countries of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Israel. As well this, it neighbors the Gulf of Aqaba, Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea.
Jordan covers about 91,880 square kilometers!
It’s longitude and latitude is 30.5852º N & 36.2384º E.
Climate
This country has a hot, dry climate consisting of long, hot, dry summers and short, cool winters. This is influenced by the aridity (lack of moisture and dryness)
of the Arabian desert areas and the humidity of the Eastern Mediterranean area.
The driest months are June - September when the average rainfall is 0 ml!
Issues surrounding lack of water
Issues
Jordan has a rapid population growth, due to the increasing influx of refugees migrating, as well as people seeking employment. Due to the current ravaging war in Syria, around 600,000 refugees have relocated to Jordan. Despite this, large cities, for example Amman, are too often not located near sources of water, causing additional economical issues. Amman's population increased from 60,000 to 200,000 people, causing obvious tensions between the Syrians and the Jordanians. Another issue is that there are many leakages in Jordan’s pipes, causing the water to wash away before reaching the people.
DID YOU KNOW?
Did you know?
62% of Jordan’s water resources are used for agricultural purposes! This is an extremely large amount which could be more useful elsewhere!
Who is AFFECTED?
Who is affected?
The water supply for the whole population is severely lacking. Everyone is suffering the effects. The people of Jordan are having to limit their water usage as a whole, including drinking and cleaning water, decreasing their personal health and well being. They are also lacking water for various major industries.
What part are refugees playing in all this?
Refugees
Many refugees are fleeing to Jordan from nearby Syrian wars. There is an estimated 1.4 million refugees in Jordan! Not only does it limit the water supply, but it causes tensions between the two people!
Due to the fact the issue is so widespread, many orginisations work by priority: looking at the areas that have the most refugees, and directing the help there to begin.
Farmers
Farmers
Farmers have a responsibility to conserve water, as great deals of it is being wasted on agricultrual use. Farmers contribute to just 3% of Jordan's GPD, and so there are insufficient results! In order to conserve, they could switch to drip irrigation methods and less water-intensive crops. This will decrease water use while still growing enough healthy crops for the country, thus a long term fix. With the newly saved water, it can go straight to emergency response services, providing people with their daily needs such as drinking or bathing water. A recent study by the Highland Water Forum shows that farmers would be willing to make changes if the government provided financial support.
NEXT STEPS
NEXT STEPS
Jordan is the world's 3rd driest country!
Action needs to be taken in order to ensure a sustainable, renewable future.
Government initiatives
Steps the Jordanian government are taking include:
~ Creating and enforcing laws such as limiting the use of household or farming water, or punishments for stealing water from the pipes. It is important that they enforce the law, otherwise no change will occur.
~ Make international agreements. This could include trying to provide additional help to the Syrians evacuating from the war in their homeland. This may be by communicating and making deals with other neighbouring countries all create safe havens for the stranded. Therefore, the number of refugees in Jordan could be filed out in proportion. This increases each individual's water supply in Jordan, therefore addressing the water scarcity issue. Despite this, it may cause issues for the already vunerable Syrians due to family separation issues as well as transporation problems. All they need is a close place to feel safe again, to improve their mental health, and so moving about would not be the best option.
~ Raising funds through taxation is an essential step in tackling water scarcity, however the government is not helping in this way to the best of their abilities. The people need new pumps, irrigation, and other essentials however many say they are not delivering. This calls for a need of more non-government funded organizations and communities to step up and play their part.
Government Help
If the government reduced water losses by fixing the multiple leakages in the pipes, they could potentially provide water for 2 million Jordanians! It could also provide empolyment and an income for many, thus being very effective. However, this is potentially only a short term fix. Once the workers are finished fixing the pipes, they could start building larger pumps in severerly overpopulated areas or refugee camps! Furthermore, the government could encourage better use of household water or utilities, by promoting behavioral change.
Mercy Corps- NGO
Non-government assisted help
Mercy Corps is a worldwide non-for profit organization. They have been playing a huge part in many unfotunate people's lives, especially for those facing major water scarcity issues in Jordan, since 2003. Mercy Corps solve issues by orginising funding and collecting donations, and tackling the issues right at the source. Some of the work they do includes emergency response: providing struggling families support to meet their most urgent and basic needs to survive. This is effective as it is straightforward and exactly what the people need in the short term. For example, if everyday people aren't drinking enough clean water, they will get extremely sick or dehydrated, causing other health issues such as headaches or even heart and other organ issues. This will then limit their ability to transport and collect water, complete their various jobs, stopping their income and ability to live funcionally. Young kids may have to give up any chance of education to start working. Parents with families can suffer severve mental health issues as they are unable to provide the essentials for their kids. Due to this evidence, it is clear Mercy Corps' emergency services tackle water scarcity for those in the most dire circumstances, and are very effective in improving many people's lives.
Water
Drilling wells is a temporary fix, and will only serve for a couple of years before new ones need to be built. Using all the money, materials and effort to create a few large, intricate water systems maybe more effective instead of many small
wells. A larger pump
system could serve for a
few decades before matinence steps in, and can help multiple communites with disruptions.
"We try to help by adding more water, reducing leaks, and making things more efficient. We are helping the government achieve their goals by rehabilitating the water network and building new sources of water."
Water
Mercy Corps increase the water supply for more than 500,000 refugees, through many ways. This may either be by digging wells at refugee camps where much of the population resides, as well as local communities, renovating and replacing water systems to more efficiently conserve water. This is extremely effective as the water isn't being wasted before reaching the people. It may be a mid-term soulution if they set to work replacing all the pipes, benefiting everyone's lives.
Mercy Corps 2017
Children & Youth
Creating safe venues for children and young people to play and socialize. Enabling schools to educate more refugee children, supporting integration and helping young people learn new skills. This is a vital need as the kids still need to have healthy social and mental health, which can both be acheived but interacting with other kids. Many kids may have to leave school, or not even attend at all as they need to help their familes earn an income or transport water. This support can provide the kids with essentail life skills, and the power to promote change and help the wider community. The refugee children's lives have been devasted, so early on, and so promoting a healthy, happy, interactive place to go while they are still young will allow them to build relationships and settle down in their new country.
Other ways Mercy Corps provide help is through...
Conflict & Governance
Conflict & governmence
Supporting the ability of communities, community leaders and local government to resolve local stresses and tensions and to develop solutions to common, recurring problems. Overpopulation is a big issue, however the Syrians have no where else to go, and are in need of a safe place for their families. Tensions are high over the lack of water, and so by providing strategies to keep the peace and unite the people in a time of need is crucial. Without this, the issue can grow resulting in fights, whereas if they united, they could find ways to control their existing issues without creating new ones.
Studies are conducted to learn how much water people are getting each week. They are trying to check the network and find where the leaks are. Supervision and design input is also contributed on new projects. However, they cannot do all this work alone. They need our help. It's our duty to help these sevices help the people.
Limited financial resources limit many nessacary projects. Working with the Jordanian government, Mercy Corps work to make difference for all people.
Overall Evaluation
Thus, Mercy Corps is an essential orginistaion that are targeting many areas of Jordan's issues. Without them, Jordan would be in turmoil, and the already vunerable people wouldn't have the materials, knowledge, services, education or peace to tackle water scarcity while living safe, happy, and healthy lives to the best of their abilities.
Individual and community support
It is our responsibilty to provided help for the less fortunate. Ways can can help the population of Jordan include:
Individual and community help
Raise awareness in communties. And stay informed about worldwide issues! Millions of people are struggling on a daily basis and living with all the issues of water scarcity. We need to open our eyes to the various issues in our world.
We can take action! Turn awareness into action by setting up funding activities!