US to continue supporting Jordan’s water sector — ambassador

AMMAN — The US will extend some $125 million over the next five  years to support Jordan’s water sector and projects in water conservation and efficiency, US Ambassador Alice G. Wells said Thursday.

The ambassador highlighted US support to the water sector in Jordan over the past six decades, noting that Washington will continue this support, including to the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project (Red-Dead), which plays a crucial role in saving the Dead Sea and meeting Jordan’s rising needs on water.

Speaking at a meeting held by EDAMA Association, Wells said the Red-Dead Project will bring benefits to all its stakeholders—Jordan, Israel and Palestine.

In 2015, the US Congress committed $100 million in additional support to the water sector, she added, noting that the pressure on Jordan's water resources has grown with the influx of Syrian refugees.

Stressing the significance of the Red-Dead Project, Water Minister Hazem Nasser said 300 million cubic metres (mcm) of water will be pumped each year under the first phase of the project.

Under this phase, a desalination plant will be built in Aqaba, producing some 65mcm of fresh water per year. The remaining 235mcm will be pumped into the shrinking Dead Sea.

“The Dead Sea is shrinking by one metre every year at present. With the start of this project, it will only shrink by half-a-metre each year, and we will continue to do more,” said the minister.

“We succeeded in isolating this project from politics, as in spite of the political differences among the involved stakeholders, we are going ahead with [it],” he added.

Nasser said he expects a memorandum of understanding between Palestine and Israel related to the implementation of the Red-Dead Project to be signed within six weeks.

The winning bid for the project will be selected by the end of the year, said the minister.

Construction is slated for 2017, and the project will be completed by 2020, he added.