Jordan Case Study: Water shortages, strategies and alternative solutions: a political perspective

Jordan shares most of its surface water with its neighbours, whose building of dams upstream on major rivers partially deprives Jordan of its share. With current use exceeding renewable supply, Jordan’s water deficit is covered by overdrawing aquifers - expected to run dry within 20 years.  The gap between water supply and demand threatens to widen - on current trends per capita water will decline from 145 cm/year to 91cm/year by 2025 – far below the international water poverty level of 500 cm/year.
This paper would therefore revisit alternative policies that might contribute to alleviation of water scarcity including the international trade in water – the trading and transfer of water from water-plentiful regions such as Turkey to water-scarce Jordan – and the potential role of WTO and GATS in opening the water sector to new private sector service providers.
With increasing trade between states, could the import of “virtual water” through imported commodities alleviate water scarcity at acceptable economic and social cost?  What does Jordan’s water-use foot print tell us about its likely dependency on external sources of water and what would the implications in terms of adjustment be, particularly for agriculture?  Would these alternative solutions be non-starters in the absence of Arab-Israel peace or might they help expedite the peace process by reducing competition over regional water resources? In a global perspective, would countries adopting such strategies be effectively exporting their environmental problems? Does the overall global availability of plentiful water support these potential solutions?