MENAWARA & MEDWAYCAP in Jordan: a symposium to discuss water security
On March 12nd, 2023, Dr Naem Mazahrih, representative of the National Agriculture Research Center, presented the challenges facing agriculture in Jordan and the related water quality requirments, by focusing on the safe use of treated water in agriculture as one of the main solution to mitigate the impact of water scarcity in Jordan.
The symposium was organized at the University of Jordan by the Geographical Environmental Association, in cooperation with the Department of Geography at the School of Arts, and under the auspices of His Excellency the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and saw the participation of over 70 people from different beackgrounds, among them local representatives, experts, technicians, students and community leaders. The symposium
stems from the interest in developing a strategy for water and energy security in a country that suffers from a shortage of water and a decline in natural resources.
reported Prof. Inam Khalaf, UJ Vice President for Quality and Accreditation Affairs. The other topics addressed in the symposium were “Surface water and Water Harvesting” and “Climate predictions of Rain and Temperature”.
Best practices of treated water reuse to increase the water use efficiency, implemented in the framework of the MENAWARA and MEDWAYCAP projects, have been shown during the presentation, as well as the importance of cooperation in decreasing the gap between water supply and demand.
Non-Conventional Water Resource (NCWR) can strongly contribute to local water shortage but it is still necessary to encourage and raise public awareness on the safe use of treated wastewater in agriculture as well as bringing the world of treated wastewater users (farmers) closer to that of the decision-makers (Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Universities, Ministry of Agriculture, private sectors
Dr Naem Mazahrih concluded.