Transcript Restoration and economic development of the Zarqa River Basin

Technical Cooperation
Office-Amman
Embassy of Spain
In Jordan
Zarqa River Basin
Restoration and Economic Development Project
International Union for Conservation of Nature
Zarqa River Basin Description
• Area: 3,900 Km2, c.a.
• Annual rainfall: 300 mm/year
• Annual stream flow: about 63
MCM
• Zarqa River is perennial, with:
–
summer monthly flows of 2 to 3
MCM;
– winter monthly flows of 5 to >8
MCM
MCM
Million Cubic Meter
River Flow
• Abstraction for water supply
from aquifers in the upper
Amman-Zarqa groundwater
basin has reduced the natural
base flow of the Zarqa River,
which was negatively reflected
on the flow quantity of the river.
River Flow
The flow characteristics have been
further modified by discharging
treated domestic and industrial
wastewater to the river.
This
wastewater
constitutes
nearly all of summer flow,
substantially degrading the water
quality.
Three main problems are associated with Zarqa River:
1- Decrease of natural flow.
2- Pollution by disposing industrial
wastewater and solid wastes.
3- Pollution by partially-treated
domestic wastewater.
Socio-Economic Aspects
• Length of river watercourse is 70 Km,
passing through 4 governorates.
• 65% of Jordan’s total population and
more than 90% of the small medium
industries are concentrated in the river
basin area.
• About 10,000 donums (i.e. 2380 H) are
used for agriculture in the watershed.
The Environmental Condition in Zarqa Basin
Environmental components that are at risk in the AmmanZarqa Basin include:
• High air pollution due to the surrounding industrial areas (such
as thermal power plants, the oil refinery, industrial stack
emissions).
• Over-pumping of groundwater for agricultural and industrial
uses as well as drinking.
• Surface and groundwater resources pollution caused by
wastewater from partially operated treatment plants.
Environmental Increasing Risks
• Solid waste management constitutes a big challenge in
a heavily populated and industrialized region.
• Poverty and degraded livelihood conditions aggravated
the negative environmental impacts.
Zarqa River Basin Restoration Project
Long-Term Goal:
• Restoration of the river basin
• Economic development
Purpose:
• Test and demonstrate a
systemic and participatory
approach for planning,
development and
management of the
watershed/river basin at the
intermediate and local levels
through
by
good analysis and
planning, leading to
more effective and
economically sound
water resources
management and
improving rural
livelihoods,
environmental and water
security.
promoting increased
participation and
representation of
stakeholders (mainly
end-users) in the
planning and decision
making processes.
Constraints
to Improved Water Management
Lack of:
• Unclear governance of
the water basin, manifested in
difficulties in the enforcement
of water legislations and policies.
• Absence of inter-stakeholder
agreement.
• Limited knowledge on
socio-economic consequences.
• Information on water and
environmental flows in the basin
(interaction of groundwater with surface
water, etc).
• Awareness on water conservation and
management.
• Experience / knowledge in systematic
approaches relevant to water resources
management.
Project Beneficiaries
Locally
Communities within the river
basin, farmers, CBOs,
industries
Intermediate
Industries and local-level
government institutions
To the top
Best practice for
National-level government
institutions
Other river basins in other
areas or in the region
Physical Problems Tree for ZRR
Physical Problem Tree for ZRB
Health risk (water
service pollution)
Water
supply
(because ground
water depletion)
Hydraulic risk
Loss of recreation
& landscape
Loss of estate value
Ecosystem in bad condition
Poor Biota, Flora,
fauna, vegetation
and biodiversity
Water retained in
Syria
Inadequate Water regime
Modification GW
Morphology (works)
High pollution Load
Reduction of natural flow
Excessive Abstraction of water
Un proper domestic
use (drinking with
toilet)
Poor water quality
Un proper irrigation
(surface) & crop
choice
Insufficient/ expected
WW collection and
treatment
Sewerage in the river
bed
Wild disposal of
liquid and solid
waste
Areas not covered by
collection
Obsolete industrial
processes
Urban development
• GW safely yield = 87.5 MCM/yr
• Actual use = 149.8
• Over use = 62.3 MCM/yr
- 80.1 for domestic
- 6.9 for industrial
- 62.9 for agricultural
Institutional
Governance
Consolidation
Process
4
Capacity
Building
5
3 or 4 Pilot
Sites for
Testing
Pilot
Approach
Projects
2
Planning
“on the
+
ground”
SDCA
7
+
Technical
Long Term Strategy
Studies on
Development
Selected
1
Information
6
PWPC
+
DST
3
Long-Term Strategic Plan for Zarqa River
Restoration & Management
Project Components
• Increasing the influence of
stakeholders on the planning and
decision-making processes for water
resources management.
• Development and implementation
of different pilot projects to test
solutions for river basin restoration.
• Water resources, environmental and
socio-economic assessments.
• Empowerment of local communities,
private sector, NGOs and government
agencies.
• Development and endorsement
of a master plan for the
watershed/river restoration.
• Development of system analysis
tools (PMC + IWMIS) to support
restoration master plans.
• Documenting the learning process and
sharing information and knowledge at
local, regional and national levels.
EXPECTEDRESULTS
1. An effective “River Contract”,
i.e the organizational
structure and operational
tools for Zarqa River Basin
master plan implementation.
3. Enabling the implementation
of similar activities in other
areas of the country and the
region.
2. Empowering stakeholders
GOs, NGOs, private sector,
CBOs and end-users in the
water resources planning and
management processes.
4. Developing the economic and
social elements in the river basin
due to the improved environment.
Progress to Date
• Institutional Arrangements:
– Forming a steering committee at the national level to ensure participation and
influence the national-level decision makers.
– Conducting an institutional review of the organizational structure of the Ministry
of Environment and Zarqa River Basin Rehabilitation Unit in order to come up with
the best options for establishing the unit and its sustainable institutional linkages
within the Ministry of Environment and with other line ministries and agencies.
– Establishing a specialized institutional unit for the restoration of Zarqa River Basin
as part of the Ministry of Environment’s institutional structure to ensure
sustainability of the project.
• Stakeholders Dialogue (Multi-Stakeholder Platforms):
– Stakeholders dialogue was facilitated and an effective communication system
between all stakeholders at different levels was established.
– Three local water management committees were established at pilots sites level.
– The local committees including end-users were empowered to increase water
users participation in decision making.
Progress to Date
Cont..
• Capacity Building:
 Conducting Rapid Rural Appraisal for Zarqa river to select three or
four pilot sites whose implementation is designed to test technical
interventions based on stakeholders’ priorities.
 Conducting training needs assessment for the relevant stakeholders
and for Zarqa River Basin Rehabilitation Unit (ZRRU).
 Based on training needs assessments results, three key documents
in river restoration authored by IUCN (Flow , Pay and Ecosystem
Approach) were translated to Arabic in order to build the capacity
of the relevant stakeholders on river rehabilitation.
Progress to Date
Cont
– Conducting training workshops, public awareness campaigns and dialogue
sessions, targeting the stakeholders on several issues concerning water
governance such as PRA, water resources assessments, scenario building,
water strategic planning....etc .
– Reviewing and assessing the environmental legislations/laws, and
introducing amendments and recommendations for better enforcement.
– Conducting several training workshops on Env. Laws targeted legal
advisors of different ministries ,lawyers ,Municipalities
representatives…etc, in cooperation with Jordanian Lawyers Bar and IUCN
law commission .
– Defining the list of criteria in different aspects (socio-economic,
environmental and economic) in order to be quantified then used for multicriteria analysis (MCA).
Practical Learning
– Four pilot sites, selected upon specific criteria, were developed by
the national steering committee as follows :
• Russeifeh Site (upstream).
• Al Zarqa Site (upstream).
• Al Balqa Site (downstream).
– In-depth social and water information were collected by local
stakeholders to increase their involvement.
– Local River Rehabilitation Strategic Plans were developed for the
pilot sites in a participatory way.
- Three pilot projects were identified by the relevant stakeholders and will be
implemented in selected pilot sites, aiming to:
• Reduce pollution load dumped .
• Improve the environmental situation.
• Green the area (making eco-learning parks).
• Community development
• Promote effective governance.
• Demonstrate how an effective planning and management relationship can
be developed and sustained between a local community, CBOs, private
sector and respective government departments for the purpose of
improving water resources management and river rehabilitation.
- Two schools were selected within the Zarqa River Basin and two small pilot
project on water management were implemented to increase students’
participation in the river rehabilitation and water management.
Lessons Learned
• Jordan Government’s commitment to adopt the policy and institutional
and relevant regulatory measures are necessary to implement and
sustain the river rehabilitation.
• The availability and exchange of information between relevant
stakeholders are a core factor for better water governance.
• Reversing years long of river pollution is possible through concerted
coordination between the line ministries and local communities.
• Community empowerment is a core factor for real participation in the
river rehabilitation process.
• Schools are focal points for technical knowledge and awareness raising
of local communities.
• Water issues became the main concern of the local communities due to
scarce water and increasing demand.