NOR ANY DROP TO DRINK: An Analysis of The Jordan Red Sea Project and Reconciling Environmental Concerns with the Human Right to Water
SIREE ALLERS INDEPENDENT STUDY PROJECT, SIT JORDAN FALL 2009
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink ; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink.
Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Coleridge
Outline
! Background " The Land " The Issue " The Project
! Environmental Concerns " Dead Sea " Red Sea
! Water and the People " Human Right " Demographic
" Socioeconomic Considerations
" Cultural considerations
! Reconciling the Ideals ! Economic Feasibility ! Conclusion ! Points of Interest ! Works Cited
Background: The Land
! One of the top ten driest countries in the world ! 3% Arable Land ! Precipitation Average 9.4 cm/yr ! Jordan River 1950s
1.3 BCM/yr
FOA - UN
Background: The Issue
! Population 5.87 million # 7.8 million in 2022 ! Groundwater extracted at 2x rate of recharge ! Energy & Economic Dependence ! Water as a casus belli ! Dead Sea shrinking by a meter a year
Jordan’s Water Strategy 08-22
Jordan’s Water Strategy 08-22
Water for the Future
Phase 1
“fully operational and financially viable as a stand-alone project” Al-Qimish 2:14-2:36
• 50 MCM # Amman • 20 MCM # Aqaba, Wadi Araba • 5 MCM # economic zone • 50 MCM # “regional neighbors” • expected start-date: 2014
The Project
! Phase I & II
! 960 MCM to Jordan and 100 for “regional uses”
! “create confidence and momentum for the development of the JRSP grand vision of saving the Dead Sea and sustaining Jordan’s future economic growth and development”
Environmental Concerns: The Dead Sea
! Stratification ! Alter the limnology,
geochemistry, and biology
! Calcium-rich waters of the Dead Sea + Sulfates of brine # whitish discoloration
! Microbial blooms unpredictable
! Leaks/fault line FoEME
Environmental Concerns: The Red Sea
! Benthic habitat /corals up to 3km
! > surface temp ! < salinity ! construction
FoEME
Water and the People: Human Right
! “access to water is a fundamental human need and a basic human right”
! 500 CM/yr poverty line
Kofi Annan
Water and the People: Demographics
! Regional conflict is unpredictable
! 2.5% of 3.4% growth rate " Approximately 1 million
Palestinians from 1948/1967
" 300,000 from Gulf War 1990
" 700,000- 1million Iraqis
Reconciling the Ideals
! conservation & efficiency " “ appropriate water tariffs and incentives will be
introduced in order to promote water efficiency in irrigation” " Voluntary measures
" w/o water-saving devices = 42 CM " w/ water-saving devices = 16-19.5 CM … 62%
" Nonrevenue water loss
! wait for feasibility reports " World Bank – 6/7 2011
Water for the Future
Jordan’s Water Strategy
Economic Feasibility
! P1 & P2 alone is $18.2 billion ! “recruit and select … financiers and investors within
8 months” " Dependence on financiers/investors?
! Environmental Degradation # Loss of Tourism $ ! International Funding for Green Technology
“BBC once interviewed me and they asked me how much would the project cost? And I said something like $5billion dollars, they said oh this is too much. I said you and your allies like America are spending $5billion a month to destroy Iraq. I am proposing 5 billion over 10 years to make life… and you say it is too much, what kind of ethics do you guys have? It’s okay to spend $5billion a month to turn Iraq into what it is today? And it is too much to pay $5billion in ten years to make life in the desert?” -Munther Haddadin
Conclusion
1. Return to project’s original intentions 2. Slow down
$ Expressions of Interest
3. Focus on other internal initiatives for now " Comprehensive infrastructural review " Agricultural endeavors
4. Political Transparency 5. Green technologies # Energy independence
" Wind " Solar " USAID’s new office fore Energy Research and Application
“suppose the people in Texas are swimming [in the sea] and there is no drop of water to drink, to have a bath, to clean yourself, to protect yourself from disease. Will you say no, no, no I will keep the sea for the people to come and relax?” –Fayyez Butaineh
Points of Interest
! Nuclear Energy? … on Fault Lines
! Water and Regional Relations
! Climate Change, desertification
! Jordan, Oil, Iraq ! Generational
Environmentalism ! Environmentalism and
Religion
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