Strategies for countries to mitigate the risks of extreme water scarcity and dependency in a sustainable way

January 4th, 2016

Joep Schyns, University of Twente, The Netherlands

Water-scarce countries that strongly rely on imported water resources face risks of reduced water and food security and environmental impacts related to overconsumption and pollution of freshwater. Many nations already find themselves in this situation and the issue is becoming increasingly important for numerous others due to the fact that water scarcity is becoming increasingly important.1 A crucial question is therefore:

How can countries mitigate the risks of extreme water scarcity and dependency in a sustainable way?

We have addressed this question for the case of Jordan. Jordan is an extreme example of a water-scarce and water-dependent country. Freshwater demand in Jordan exceeds the total renewable water resources of the country with the pollution of surface and groundwater resources also causing significant concern. At the same time, Jordan heavily relies on water resources from outside its borders. This applies in a physical sense, through the sharing of rivers and aquifers with neighbouring countries, as well as indirectly, through Jordan’s strong dependence on virtual water imports from international trade in commodities. In the past, there have been tensions over the sharing of water resources with Israel and Syria. Furthermore, Jordan has experienced large influxes of refugees as a result of the ongoing conflicts in surrounding countries, sharpening the struggle to meet domestic water needs.

This article summarizes the findings of a study recently published in Water.2 It provides a description and analysis of the current situation in Jordan before setting out favourable solutions based on the authors’ research and other literature.

Objective and design of the study

The objective of the study was to analyse the above issues, and subsequently review sustainable solutions that have been proposed to help reduce the risk of extreme water scarcity and dependency. We chose to assess the water situation in Jordan from a water footprint perspective. As part of this process we estimated the water footprint related to the activities that take place in Jordan. We also estimated virtual water trade and the external water footprint associated with the production of the goods and services the people in Jordan consume. This was conducted according to the global standard for Water Footprint Assessment,3 employing the methods and datasets of Mekonnen and Hoekstra.4,5

Furthermore, we reviewed various solutions that have been discussed in the past to greater or lesser extent to address Jordan’s domestic water problems and external water dependency. We extensively discussed how promising these options are in solving (aspects of) the problems, the sustainability of the options and the challenges for their implementation.

Figure 2. The global water footprint of Jordan’s consumption (a) and an enlarged view of the Middle East (b). Period: 1996-2005. Source: Schyns et al. (2015b)

The unsustainability of water consumption and pollution in Jordan

The total blue water footprint in Jordan (consumption of surface and groundwater) is 69% of the blue water available (Figure 1). This result classifies Jordan as ‘severely water scarce’. The picture for groundwater resources specifically is even more alarming; groundwater consumption is nearly double the groundwater availability. Furthermore, water pollution is aggravating blue water scarcity as the grey water footprint (a volumetric measure for water pollution) exceeds the waste assimilation capacity of the renewable water resources.

Jordan’s dependency on foreign water resources

Jordan’s dependence on physical transboundary resources is large (34%). However, the country’s dependency on external water resources through trade is much larger. 86% of the water consumption associated with the production of products and commodities consumed by the Jordanian population takes place in other countries all over the world (Figure 2). A large part of this water footprint is related to the consumption of animal products such as meat, hides and skins, and milk (Figure 3).

10 Essential ingredients to mitigate the risks of extreme water scarcity and dependency

We have extensively reviewed the sustainability of various proposed solutions to Jordan’s water problems in the academic literature and Jordan’s national water strategy. This review can be summarized into 10 essential ingredients which a sustainable water management strategy for Jordan, that reduces the risk of extreme water scarcity and dependency, should involve:

Do not tap into fossil groundwater resources. These are to be used only in urgent times, in low amounts and infrequently. Drive desalination projects with sustainable solar and wind energy. Investigate and implement options for water harvesting and the productive use of rainfall to overcome water shortages at small scales. Prevent pollution, treat inevitable waste streams, and possibly reuse wastewater flows, but consider that treated wastewater is not a new freshwater resource in addition to ground- and surface water and desalinated water. Develop water footprint benchmarks for crops and products that reflect reasonable levels of water consumption per unit of production and work towards achieving those benchmarks by focusing on smart and efficient irrigation scheduling and improved soil and crop management. Cap the water footprint in each river basin and aquifer to the maximum sustainable water footprint, focusing on groundwater first, while managing the risks of averted impact on surface water. Increase allocation efficiency by making sure domestic water demand is met and using the remaining available water below the maximum sustainable level for the production of high value-added products and crops with relatively low water footprints for export. Use the revenue obtained by export to finance the inevitable imports of water-intensive products and commodities from a diverse number of countries that are under a significantly lower degree of water scarcity than Jordan. Stimulate a change towards consumption patterns with a lower water footprint e.g., by introducing meat-free days and product labelling. The international community should assist Jordan in taking in the large numbers of refugees from neighbouring conflict areas in order to reduce domestic water demand.

With respect to these ingredients, Jordan’s current water policy requires a strong redirection towards water demand management. Actual implementation of the plans in the national water strategy6 (despite existing opposition) would be a first step. However, more attention should be paid to reducing water demand by changing the consumption patterns of Jordanian consumers. Moreover, unsustainable exploitation of the fossil Disi aquifer should soon be halted and planned desalination projects require careful consideration of the sustainability of their energy supply.

While our study focused on Jordan as an extreme example of a water scarce country that heavily relies on external water resources, we believe that many of the above strategies can be generalized to other countries in a similar situation. As such, this research is useful to governments, policy makers and practitioners charged with the task of developing national water plans.

References :

Schyns, J.F., Hoekstra, A.Y., Booij, M.J. (2015a) Review and classification of indicators of green water availability and scarcity. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 4581-4608, http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/19/4581/2015/hess-19-4581-2015.pdf. Schyns, J.F., Hamaideh, A., Hoekstra, A.Y., Mekonnen, M.M. and Schyns, M. (2015b) Mitigating the risk of extreme water scarcity and dependency: the case of Jordan. Water, 7, 5705-5730, http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/7/10/5705/htm. Hoekstra, A.Y., Chapagain, A.K., Aldaya, M.M. and Mekonnen, M.M. (2011) The Water Footprint Assessment Manual: Setting the Global Standard. Earthscan: London, UK, http://waterfootprint.org/en/resources/publications/water-footprint-assessment-manual-global-standard/. Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011) The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops and derived crop products. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 15, 1577-1600, http://waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Mekonnen-Hoekstra-2011-WaterFootprintCrops_1.pdf. Hoekstra, A.Y. and Mekonnen, M.M. (2012) The water footprint of humanity. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 109, 3232-3237, http://www.ayhoekstra.nl/pubs/Hoekstra-Mekonnen-2012a.html. Ministry of Water and Irrigation (2009) Water for Life: Jordan’s Water Strategy 2008-2022. Ministry of Water and Irrigation: Amman, Jordan.

Joep Schyns is a PhD researcher in the Water Management group at the University of Twente, The Netherlands. His PhD research is about modelling the spatial and temporal dimensions of water scarcity, specifically of so-called ‘green water‘. Furthermore, he has studied the added value of water footprint and water scarcity assessments to inform national water policy in semi-arid, water-scarce countries such as Jordan and Morocco. This article is based on an original piece of research published in Water titled, ‘Mitigating the Risk of Extreme Water Scarcity and Dependency: The Case of Jordan‘ by Joep F. Schyns, Arwa Hamaideh, Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Mesfin M. Mekonnen and Marlou Schyns.

The views expressed in this article belong to the individual authors and do not represent the views of the Global Water Forum, the UNESCO Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Water Governance, UNESCO, the Australian National University, or any of the institutions to which the authors are associated. Please see the Global Water Forum terms and conditions here.