A century of infrastructure and institutions mediating water allocation in Jordan

ABSTRACT With 61 cubic meters of blue water available per capita per year, Jordan is among the world's most water-scarce countries. Here, we map the development of water institutions and ever-increasing infrastructure, which have mediated water user demand and water availability over the past 78 years. It shows that, despite the massive growth of water extraction, storage, treatment, and transfer infrastructure, total water availability has been stagnating at around 1,200 million cubic meters per year since 2010. We systematically review Jordan's water-related laws and policy documents, laying out the legal mechanisms and policies for allocating surface-, ground-, and unconventional water to municipal, agricultural, and industrial water users, which shows discrepancies between current laws and policies regarding the priority of use, and extant water allocation. Water user perspectives derived from a small sample of interviews illustrate water service deficits and adaptive efforts to deal with supply intermittence and water quality issues on the receiving end of water allocation. Looking into the future, we discuss a re-allocation scenario for the year 2050 that limits water extraction to renewable rates, restricts agricultural water use to reused domestic and industrial water, and prioritizes domestic water demand. We propose legal changes necessary to accommodate this change.