Recycled Water Turns Jordan's Deserts Green

By Francesca de Châtel*

22/04/2004

"For in the waterless region, as it is called, [the Nabataeans] have dug wells at convenient intervals and have kept the knowledge of them from people of all other nations, and so they retreat in a body into this region out of danger. For since they themselves know about the places of hidden water and open them up, they have for their use drinking water in abundance." [Diodorus, II.48.2]  

This 1^st century BC description of the life of the Nabataeans in the Jordanian desert shows that water scarcity in this part of the world is nothing new. Already two thousand years ago survival in this harsh climate depended on the ingenuity and inventiveness of the local population. Part of the strength of the powerful Nabataean civilization that thrived from the 6th century BC to the 3rd century AD lies in their refined water management system.

Walking through the extensive ruins at the historic Nabataean site of Petra today, one can still see the cisterns, wells and water channels scattered across the site. Today tourists see these Nabataean water works as mere curiosities, but many Jordanians are coming to realize that these relics of the past also hold relevant messages for the present. For just as the Nabataeans developed a refined system of collection and storage devices to make use of every drop of water, the current water crisis in Jordan means every option has to be considered

Modern-Day Jordan's Water Crisis

Indeed, the Desert Kingdom did not earn its name for nothing, and except for the water from the Jordan River and its tributaries – which the Hashemite Kingdom shares with Israel and Syria – the country relies entirely on scant rainfall and groundwater reserves.

The effects of this natural scarcity have been compounded by a sharp increase in population figures over the last 50 years, making Jordan one of the ten poorest countries in the world in terms of water resources^[1]. Water scarcity is an undeniable part of life here and everyone in Jordan feels its impact with citizens receiving just 24 hours of water a week. Agriculture, the largest consumer of water throughout the region, has also been curtailed and still, the situation is precarious: all the reserves are stretched to their limit, forcing the country to turn to alternative sources such as desalinated water and treated wastewater

Treated wastewater for the irrigation of agricultural crops is being used more and more frequently, not only in Jordan but throughout the Middle East. Domestic wastewater from kitchens, gardens and bathrooms – not from toilets – is processed and recycled to make it fit for use in agricultural settings.

Recycled Water Brings Prosperity to Wadi Musa

Near the ruins of Petra in southern Jordan, this new technique is now being applied to treat the wastewater from Petra’s many tourist facilities and provide water to local farmers. Thus, today Petra does not only bring an income to the tourist business, but also, indirectly, to the agricultural sector.

The Wadi Musa Reuse Project – a joint initiative of the Jordanian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation and the American donor agency USAID – produces 1.25 million cubic meters of agricultural water a year, providing freshwater for the irrigation of 1,070 dunums^[2] of land. Initiated in September 2002, the scheme is already bearing its fruits: local farmers are cultivating a wide variety of crops including barley, sorghum and vegetables

Her Highness Sharifa Zein Bint Nasser, the head of development for the Royal Hashemite Court and one of the project’s initiators, explains that this is the first time any such initiative has been undertaken in the Middle East. “This is a groundbreaking project: it is the first time that treated wastewater is being used by local Bedouin tribes. We very much hope that the project will serve as an example to the whole country,” she says.  She explains that what makes the project at Wadi Musa unique is not so much the use of treated wastewater, but the fact that local farmers are being directly involved in its use.

Near the main site there is a small demonstration area where a wide variety of plants, trees and flowers are being grown; they were all selected to resist the arid climate of Wadi Musa and are irrigated by drip irrigation, ensuring efficient water use.

Bedouin Tribe Embraces Project

HH Sharifa Zein says that it was partly thanks to the creation of this demonstration area that the local Bedouin tribe, the Ammariin, embraced the idea of using treated wastewater for irrigation. “In the beginning they all saw the wastewater treatment plant as an awful and ugly thing, a building that stank. And the treated wastewater that flowed from the plant through the valley was left untouched; the farmers wouldn't even let their livestock drink it… To them the water was impure and haram, and they believed that any animal that had drunk it would become impure and be unfit to sell at the market,” she says. 

She recalls that it took “hundreds of cups of tea and coffee and night upon night of sitting in tents and discussing the project with the community”, before the local farmers of the Ammariin tribe accepted the idea of treated wastewater. “We showed them examples in which treated wastewater had been successfully used for the irrigation of crops in Tunisia. And we were also able to show them a fatwa that had been issued by scholars at Al Azhar University in Cairo, approving the use of treated wastewater for the irrigation of crops. Once they saw the results of the demonstration site they were really convinced: now we have managed to make them see that water is valuable, that it is not just a commodity to be looked down upon and that even this treated water is a precious resource.”

The land on which the treatment plant stands is today owned by the government, but in the past it belonged to the Ammariin tribe. They are therefore the main beneficiaries of the project, and the tribe has been organized in a cooperative of 200 members, with men and women partaking as equal shareholders. “The fact that women are given equal say in the day-to-day management and running of the project is another unique feature of the project,” says HH Sharifa Zein. She explains that the tribe elders were initially reluctant to allow women to participate in such a manner, but they have now also come to see the benefits.

Ismail Twaissi, the agricultural engineer in charge of the project, is very pleased with the results at Wadi Musa. “We really hope to change the lives of local farmers with this project. Before they had to wait for rain, with this project they know they will have a reliable and steady supply. We can already now see the difference,” he says. 

Besides having to get used to the concept of treated wastewater, Twaissi explains that there were many things the farmers had to learn in the initial phases. “The farmers often don't know how to deal with the new crops they are planting,” he explains. “They don’t know when to sow them and when to harvest them; how to apply the right amounts of fertilizer. They also needed help with the use of the drip irrigation system; they had never used this before. There is a lot for them to learn.” 

While animal fodder is the principal crop now, Twaissi points out that a variety of trees have also been planted – both in the demonstration site and on the individual plots. Native trees such as juniper, pistachio, almond and olive have been reintroduced with the aim of restoring plant diversity in the region and combating desertification.

Spin-off Projects Develop

While the project is barely a year and a half old, members of the cooperative are already so pleased with the results that they are starting to take initiatives to increase the value of the project. The farmers had the idea of selling their produce, mainly animal fodder, to farmers from other tribes. They are now planning to build a storage facility on the site and hold weekly market days to sell their crops in the area.

Since the end of 2003 there is also a small greenhouse in the demonstration area, where four women tend to a variety of cut flowers. These will soon be sold to the larger hotels in Petra and Aqaba, generating an additional income for the cooperative. Hajja Amal, one of the young women working in the greenhouse, is very pleased with her new job. “Before this I never worked; with this new job I feel I am learning a lot. My work is also useful: both for the community and for my family,” she says.

“Already the wastewater treatment project is generating spin-off projects. Over time all these projects will start generating their own income and become sustainable,” comments HH Sharifa Zein. But she cautions, “We have to beware that we don't spread ourselves too thinly; the projects must be built up gradually.” 

Nevertheless, she already has ideas for the next project: the cultivation of herbal plants. The valleys around Petra harbor many rare species of medicinal plants and herbs and HH Sharifa Zein believes that this could be another project for local women: the development of the herb garden which could form an additional tourist attraction in Petra and at the same time provide a source of income to the Ammariin cooperative.

Water Wars

IslamOnline Exclusive With Boutros Ghali

Francesca De Châtel reports from Paris on her visit to the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Boutros Ghali, and his convictions about possible water wars in the 21st century.

Professor Boutros Boutros Ghali, the ex-Secretary General of the United Nations, has said he still believes water scarcity could lead to war in the 21st century. He reiterated the concern he first voiced in 1985 when he said that “the next war in the Middle East will be fought over water, not politics.”

He predicts that explosive population growth and the intensification of agricultural cycles throughout the Middle East and Africa will put great pressure on the already-dwindling water reserves of the region – a pressure that could result in armed conflict. Today, on the eve of the Third World Water Forum, he has again called for cooperation, not confrontation, between the countries facing the looming threat of water scarcity.

The Nile Basin: A Perfect Example

Taking the Nile Basin as an example of the difficulties involved in equitable water distribution, Boutros Ghali explained that current use of Nile waters is sure to increase as riparian countries develop their agriculture and their economy. Countries like Sudan and Ethiopia today still rely on rain to water their crops; once they embrace irrigated agriculture, their downstream neighbor Egypt will inevitably receive less water. If in addition population figures in the region continue to soar, he foresees serious consequences.

“They will all be vying for the same water and the situation will be so dramatic that they will take to arms. Water may not be the apparent reason for the conflict, but it will certainly lie at its origins. If, for instance, 50,000 refugees cross the border from Ethiopia to Sudan because of drought and they attack a village, then Sudan will attack Ethiopia over this: ostensibly this will not be a conflict about water, but the problem of water will nevertheless lie at the root of this military intervention.”

A Long History in Water Affairs

Boutros Ghali has long recognized the gravity of the water question in the Middle East. During his period as Egypt’s minister of foreign affairs from 1977 to 1991, he repeatedly witnessed that emotions can run high over the sharing of the region’s most precious resource.

Thus, when President Sadat offered the waters of the Nile to Israel in a bid to opendiscussions about the West Bank and Gaza, there was public outrage in Egypt and beyond, with upstream countries protesting that the Nile waters were not President Sadat’s to distribute at will. Boutros Ghali sees this as just one example of how water can become a political issue.

“It is interesting to see how water was used as a political tool here. Water lies at the core of the problems in Israel. This is why [the Israelis] are interested in the Occupied Territories; not for the territory, but for the water within that territory. The problem of water will definitely have to be addressed [as part of a peace agreement]: Palestinians only have access to about 18 per cent of water within the Occupied Territories. This inequality needs to be resolved.”

In 1978 tensions over water reached a new peak when President Sadat threatened Ethiopia, which controls 85 per cent of the Nile waters, with military intervention if it embarked on any development projects that might affect the flow of the Nile northwards to Egypt. The incident was not well timed for Boutros Ghali: he had been working to strengthen Egypt’s relationships with its downstream neighbors and initiate a dialogue between riparian states.

“Water was my main obsession,” he remembers. “I tried to raise awareness of the importance of cooperation between riparian states over the sharing of the Nile waters; I wanted to show Egyptians that the security of Egypt is related to the south, to Sudan and Ethiopia, rather than to the east and Israel.”

“Fraternity” Demands Oil for Water

In this context Boutros Ghali created an organisation that brought together the ministers of irrigation of the nine riparian states: Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Congo. Called Undugu, which means fraternity in Swahili, the group aimed to build a comprehensive development plan in the Nile Basin.

The ambitious scheme proposed by Egypt outlined the construction of a series of hydroelectric dams along the Nile, which would create a network of hydropower plants through the region. The generated electricity would then be exported to other regions in exchange for hard currency; an electricity grid that covered Uganda’s proposed Inga Dam and Egypt’s Aswan Dam would transfer power to the networks of Jordan, Syria, Turkey and beyond to the European Community.

Unfortunately, lack of trust between member states and political instability in Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda meant the project was doomed to failure. “From the beginning there was mistrust between members: upstream countries were suspicious of Egypt’s demands and wanted something in exchange for the water they would cede to Egypt. They even said that they would demand a barrel of oil for each barrel of water they gave away.”

The Technical/Political See-Saw

Boutros Ghali is pensive: “[It] raises the question whether the water problem can be solved on a technical level only, or whether you need a political dimension. My belief is that you need a political dimension; you cannot receive from an upstream country without offering something in exchange.

“I had a discussion with the Egyptian minister of irrigation. He believed the problems should be solved on a technical level and that introducing politics only complicated things. But my theory was quite the opposite: unless there is political consensus among members, it is impossible to seek assistance from international organisations and donor countries on a technical level.”

Boutros Ghali still believes that the threat of water wars in the Nile Basin can be averted through the creation of an international organisation that monitors and coordinates the distribution of water according to a set of objective criteria. Emphasising the importance of a foreign mediator, he says a higher body needs to be brought in to play a facilitating role between member states and to ensure the criteria set by the organisation are observed. 

“One of the problems of setting up projects in developing countries is that they are not able to embrace long-term projects; they are only interested in finding short-term solutions,” he says. He believes an international organisation could provide a solid base on which to build a sustainable and lasting collaboration project in the Nile Basin.

At first sight the recently created Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) appears to satisfy these requirements. Backed by international organisations such as the World Bank and the United Nations Development Project, the NBI is endorsed by all riparian states and aims to achieve “sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilisation of (…) Nile Basin water resources. Poverty and ignorance complicate any kind of reform in these countries.”                

Yet like its predecessor Undugu, the NBI is wrestling with the long history of mistrust between the nine riparian states. Its initiatives to date have all focussed on confidence-building; working on the so-called “win-win projects” that are beneficial to all and postponing the resolution of key issues to a later date. The question is when these issues will be addressed and whether the institution will be strong enough to resolve the inevitable conflicting interests of member states.

While the political dimension has to play a crucial role in the future resolution of water shortage, Boutros Ghali believes raising awareness at a community level is also important. He explains that there is no tradition of restricting water use, or of encouraging thriftiness: people don’t attach value to water because it is free. “The distribution of water in the city is very cheap, and the distribution of water on the land is gratis. The day you put a tax on water, people will behave differently.”

But he admitted that addressing water scarcity was a complex challenge in the developing world. “Poverty and ignorance complicate any kind of reform in these countries,” he says. “If you tell people they should save water because there will be scarcity in 10 years, they will say to you: ‘I don’t even know how I will find food for my children tomorrow, so don’t talk to me about the problems in the next 10 years. Allah will solve the problems that lie 10 years away.”

* Francesca De Châtel is a Dutch journalist and writer specializing in water issues in North Africa and the Middle East. She may be reached at: dechatel@hetnet.nl

[1] Jordan has a water availability of 175 cubic meters of water per capita per year, well below the internationally recognized minimum of 1,000 cubic meters of water per capita per year.

[2] 1 dunum=1,000 square meters