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Refugee crisis pushes water demand up by 21% — Nasser

By Petra - Mar 21,2015 - Last updated at Mar 21,2015

AMMAN — Demand on water in the Kingdom has increased by 21 per cent and by 40 per cent in the northern region as a result of hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, Water Minister Hazem Nasser said Saturday.

The refugee crisis costs the water sector JD360 million every year, the minister said at a meeting with sector representatives, adding that Jordan is facing a water emergency because of the increasing number of refugees, global warming, the scarcity of rainwater, and regional crises.

By the year 2025, 904 million people in the Mediterranean Basin, Western Asia and the Middle East are expected to suffer a shortage of drinking water, according to Nasser.

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