Jordan River Basin

Hydrology of the system

Dan (Israel)Hasbani (Lebanon)

Banias (Syria)

Yarmuk (Syria) and JordanIsrael and

West Bank

Jordan

Lake Tiberias

Dead sea

http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80858e/80858E06.htm

The Jordan River

Average annual flow – 540 million cubic metersCompared to the annual flow at the Aswan Dam – 84 billion cubic meters

Water Scarcity

In the year 2000, the per capita water resource potentials in Israel, Jordan, and Palestine were 250 m3, 234 m3 and 115 m3, respectively, placing the countries in the bottom 20 percent of the world water poverty scale.

http://www.greencrossinternational.net/GreenCrossPrograms/waterres/pdf/WFP_Jordan.pdf

Water Projects

Israel – National water carrier: transports water from the sea of Galilee to the coastal populated region and for irrigation in central and southern parts of the country. Utilizes almost all the flow of the upper Jordan River basin.

Jordan – East Ghor Canal: Diverts the water of the Yarmuk for irrigation.

Syria – A series of earth dams on the Yarmuk

Allocations

• Israel uses about 500 million cubic meters (25-30% of the countries

supply) from the upper Jordan and from the Galilee sea through it’s

national carrier and local water uses. 100 million cubic meters are

diverted from the Yarmuk to The Galilee sea.

• Jordan – 36% of the water available to Jordan comes from sources

shared with Israel, Syria and the Palestinians. Draws 160 million

cubic meters from the Yarmuk to the Ghor canal.

• Syria and Lebanon have other water sources and the Jordan River

Basin accounts for less then 5% of their available water. Uses about

90 million cubic meter fro irrigating.

Israel and Jordan use large portions of the water for agriculture

Israel - Jordan water agreement

• Bilateral agreement between Israel and Jordan

• Exchange of water allocations

• Water rights were not discussed

• Uncertainty was addressed through fixed allocations to one country

on one river while the other has the right to utilize the rest

• Cooperation in developing new water resources, and information

sharing

• Storage sharing in the Sea of Galilee

• Water quality issues were addressed