Ibn Hammad Dam in Karak to be ready in three years — ministry

AMMAN — The 4-million cubic metre (mcm) Ibn Hammad Dam in Karak Governorate is expected to be completed within three years, a government official said on Tuesday.

Water Ministry Spokesperson Omar Salameh said construction work on the project commenced after the ministry signed an agreement with local contractors on Monday to start implementation.

The dam will be ready in three years to recharge aquifers in Ibn Hammad and provide farmers and cattle breeders with water, Salameh told The Jordan Times.

Ibn Hammad Dam will be built at a cost of JD27 million, of which JD26 million will be paid by the Arab Potash Company and the rest by the Treasury, according to the spokesperson.

Under an agreement signed with the Arab Potash Company, the ministry will provide the firm with 2.5mcm per year for industrial use over 12 years at preferential prices, Water Minister Hazem Nasser said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.

The dam will provide drinking water for residents of the southern Karak and Tafileh governorates, among other towns in the region, according to the ministry, which said that the dam will also develop the surrounding land and recharge underground water.

Named after the Ibn Hammad Valley, the 52-metre-high dam will help meet the increasing demand for water in the country, according to the ministry.

A total of 10,000 people reside in villages scattered across Ibn Hammad Valley, which attracts hundreds of tourists from around the world every year. 

The 86-square-kilometre valley, announced in 2010 as a special conservation area, stretches from the mountains of Karak to the Dead Sea, at altitudes ranging between 800 metres above and 400 metres below sea level.

Salameh said the Ibn Hammad Dam is part of the ministry’s water harvesting plan announced in August to raise rainwater storage in dams by over 25 per cent within five years.

Under the plan, new dams will be constructed to raise the overall storage capacity from the current 327mcm to more than 400mcm, according to the ministry.

Dams, though expensive to build, are vital for the Kingdom to secure its water needs, according to experts.

The Kingdom’s 10 major dams are: King Talal, Wadi Al Arab, Sharhabil, Kafrein, Wadi Shuaib, Karameh, Tannour, Waleh, Mujib and Wihdeh. 

They currently hold 40.6 per cent of their total capacity of 325mcm.