Creating the conditions for sustainable transboundary water management on the Yarmouk
Consider a basin where there is so much competition for water it is littered with useless dams and boreholes conceived and cemented-in by international agreements over half a century ago. This is the case of the Yarmouk tributary of the Jordan river, where the ‘solutions’ for water scarcity – infrastructure and water treaties – are the problem.
Now imagine the Yarmouk shared equitably, sustaining several Syrian and Jordanian cities, and the livelihoods of thousands of farming families. This is where the Yarmouk Vision project seeks to take us, through some small first steps.
Since March 2018, the project has been rolling-out the findings of the UEA-SDC Yarmouk Hydropolitical Baseline Report to Jordanian and Syrian policy-makers and academic institutions. At quiet dialogue forums, key opportunities to overcome challenges are first diagnosed, and then worked into strategies for improvement. With a view to inspire a future generation of researchers, the project is also developing key stories, policy briefs, academic articles and infographics. The hope is that greater awareness of the need for better understanding of water use in the basin will create ever more opportunities for others to start on this new path.
RESEARCH PARTNERS:
– Muna Dajani – London School of Economics
– Dr Chadi Abdallah – CNRS Lebanon
– Sharif Youmans – Syria
– Prof Sa’eb Khresat – Jordan University of Science and Technology
