Annual report on dams’ conditions to be published Sunday — official

AMMAN — The Jordan Valley Authority (JVA) has concluded its annual check-up on the country’s dams in preparation for the winter season, according to JVA Secretary General Saad Abu Hammour.

“A report detailing the situation of the dams, the needed maintenance and costs is expected to be ready on Sunday,” Abu Hammour told The Jordan Times.

Recent official figures indicate that the country’s 11 main dams hold approximately 85 million cubic metres (mcm) of their total capacity of 333mcm.

Around this time last year, the dams held 95mcm while they stored 132mcm in 2015, a year when rain started early.

The JVA examines the status of the country’s dams ahead of winter every year in order to prepare for rainwater storage in the upcoming wet season.

In addition to preparing the dams to store rainwater, the JVA also clears out dirt from the streams in the catchment areas that supply the dams with water to ensure they are not polluted or blocked with soil before the rainy season begins.

The authority removes sediment from the dams to ensure an optimal storage capacity and prevent water salinity, and they also clean up their shorelines. The Kingdom’s 11 major dams are: King Talal, Wadi Al Arab, Sharhabil, Kafrein, Wadi Shuaib, Karameh, Tannour, Waleh, Mujib, Wihdeh and Kufranjah Dams are one of the main methods the country uses to secure its water needs. The Kingdom relies mainly on rainwater, but only 1.1 per cent of its total area receives an average of 400-600 millimetres of rain a year, according to the ministry.

Approximately 91 per cent of Jordan’s total area of 97,000 square kilometres is situated in arid areas with an annual rainfall average of 50-200 millimetres, while 2.9 per cent of the country’s land is categorised as semi-arid.

The first rainfall is witnessed in mid-September or early October, while the wet season usually continues until February, according to the Jordan Meteorological Department.