Water storage of Jordan's dams reaches 42% capacity

AMMAN — The overall water storage in the Kingdom's dams has reached 142 million cubic metres (mcm), filling 42 per cent of the overall capacity of 336.4 mcm, the Water Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Minister of Water Raed Abul Saud said in the statement that Al Waleh Dam has reached 100 per cent capacity at 8.2 mcm. 

Buweidah Dam in Ramtha has also reached its maximum capacity at 700,000 cubic metres, while water storage in Mujib Dam increased to 17mcm out of a total capacity of 29.8mcm, he said, adding that Talal Dam's water storage increased by around 3.9mcm to reach a total storage of 63mcm. 

The minister said that the accumulative rainfall since the beginning of the season has reached around 6,852mcm, constituting 83.6 per cent of the annual average of around 8.1 billion cubic metres, according to the statement. 

The Water Ministry on Friday also issued a statement alerting the public that Al Waleh Dam in Madaba Governorate has overflowed after reaching its full water storage capacity for the first time this year. 

In a video sent to The Jordan Times by Ministry Spokesperson Omar Salameh, Al Waleh Dam water could be seen cascading in large quantities over the sidewall of the dam as it overflowed.

Salameh urged municipalities and the concerned authorities to take all necessary measures to ensure safety concerning the dams and cautioned the public against going near the valley where the dam is located. He noted that the water was flowing within the dam at a speed of over 40 cubic metres per second, the statement added.

The ministry will continue posting updates on all dams round-the-clock and issue necessary warnings should any others of them overflow, Salameh said. 

The Maan water directorate has also prepared a plan to implement projects that resolve water scarcity problems around the governorate, especially during the summer, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Head of the directorate Samer Maaitah told Petra on Saturday that the plan includes creating new water networks, digging wells, rehabilitating existing ones and establishing water tanks in various areas. 

Maaitah attributed water problems in Maan to the old water networks, noting that they have become “unusable”, leading to the need for rehabilitation and creating new networks.