Water Politics in the Jordan River Basin

Abstract

While the water crisis is an expanding world-wide problem (see Chapter 3), many studies and reports tend to highlight the prominence of the issue in the Middle East (see in Chapter 1, notes 3–7). And among all the water basins of the Middle East, the Jordan River basin has been the focus of the most intensive attention. Despite its historical prominence, the Jordan River is the smallest watershed in the Middle East that is shared by more than two countries. From a hydrological point of view, the physical dimension of this river in no way matches its biblical fame. As its name in Arabic, Nahr al-Urdunn, indicates, the Jordan is rather a rivulet than a river in the proper sense of the word. From its furthest headwaters in Lebanon to the Dead Sea, with all the meanderings it makes in its course, the river measures about 320 kilometres. All tributaries considered, the basin drains an area of about 18 000 km². Total average intact flow of the Jordan River is between 1200 and 1850 million m³ per year. This is less than 2 per cent of the Nile, 5 per cent of the Euphrates, and slightly more than 3 per cent of the Tigris river flow (see Table 4.1). Furthermore, this already limited amount of water is subject to extreme seasonal and annual fluctuation.