AMMAN — The tariff of irrigation water will be increased as of next month, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation announced on Monday.
The price of irrigation water will gradually increase by 25 per cent starting this year and stabilise in 2017, Jordan Valley Authority (JVA) Secretary General Saad Abu Hammour said.
“The new tariff for irrigation water will go into effect starting March 1. The increase takes into considerations four categories based on the monthly consumption of water per agricultural unit,” Abu Hammour told The Jordan Times.
The first segment is 0-2,500 cubic metres per month, the second is 2,500-3,500 cubic metres per month, the third is 3,500-4,500 cubic metres per month and the fourth is above 4,500 cubic metres per month, he said.
This year, the monthly tariff of irrigation water per cubic metre will become 20 fils for the first segment, 30 fils for the second, 45 fils for the third and 60 fils for the fourth, while next year, the price for the first segment will be 35 fils, 50 fils for the second segment, 70 fils for the third segment and 80 fils for the fourth segment, according to the Water Ministry.
The tariff will continue rising in 2016 to 50 fils per cubic metre for the first segment, 70 fils for the second segment, 80 fils for the third segment and 90 fils for the fourth segment.
In 2017, which will be the final year for the gradual increase of prices, the tariff will be 73 fils per cubic metre for the first segment, 95 fils for the second segment, 100 fils for the third segment and 120 fils for the fourth segment, the ministry said.
Abu Hammour and several water officials met with farmers on Monday to consult them and approve the new irrigation water tariff.
The ministry announced in July last year its plan to raise the tariff of irrigation water after a World Bank study concluded that raising prices is “inevitable” in light of the sector’s fiscal constraints and ageing infrastructure.
The study indicated that the current practices and mandates of the JVA are not sustainable and the authority cannot continue to pump water to customers for free, as it recovers only 50-60 per cent of operational and maintenance costs of pumping from farmers.
Water Minister Hazem Nasser said in previous remakrs that the ministry has reached a point where it is no longer capable of securing funds for projects in the Jordan Valley because donors are demanding that the ministry at least recover the cost of projects.
The JVA adopted the irrigation water tariff policy in 1995, under which consumers were divided into four categories based on their monthly consumption of water per agricultural unit.
The authority says it pays JD0.066 per cubic metre in operational and maintenance costs and JD0.135 per cubic metre to cover the cost of infrastructure projects.
