Ministry announces plan to build 11 new dams across Kingdom

AMMAN — The Water and Irrigation Ministry of on Wednesday unveiled a plan to build 11 new dams in 2019, raising the total number of dams in the country to 25.

The new dams are part of a strategy to increase water storage capacity to 400 million cubic metres (mcm) and create new job opportunities, a ministry statement cited by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, said.

Five of the planned dams will be constructed in Karak, with a capacity of 23.5mcm, while two would be built in Wadi Araba with a capacity of 6.5mcm, in addition to a dam in Tafileh with a capacity of 3mcm, the statement added. The three areas are in the southern region of the Kingdom.

The ministry will also increase the capacity of Al Waleh Dam in Madaba to reach 25mcm and Wadi Musa Dam in the southern region to hold 3.5mcm of water, in addition to completing the new Telal Al Dahab Dam with a capacity of 10mcm.

Several of the Kingdom’s dams reached their full capacity this year, after heavy rains during the beginning of the wet season, including the Waleh Dam in Madaba, which has received massive flows of rainwater from nearby valleys.