AMMAN, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Husni Smadi, a resident of Ajloun Governorate in northwestern Jordan, often has to buy water from private sellers as the authorities supply public water only once about every three weeks, far from enough to meet his family's basic needs.
"Insufficient water supply is an issue facing many people across Jordan, and a solution to that is badly needed," Samadi, a retired teacher, told Xinhua.
The father of six said his family now has to spend 20-40 Jordanian dinars (28-56 U.S. dollars) per month on private water.
In a recent interview with Xinhua, Omar Salameh, spokesman of Jordan's Ministry of Water and Irrigation, said 2022 is one of the most difficult years for the country's water sector.
"Complaints are on the rise in many places ... The rainfall we received over the past rainy season was lower than expected, so the situation is critical," Salameh explained.
Jordan is one of the most water-scarce countries. Its water share per capita has declined to no more than 90 cubic meters per year over the past decades, well below the global water poverty line.
As a downstream country, Jordan secures 40 percent of its water supply from transboundary basins, leaving it heavily dependent on cooperation with its upstream neighbors, according to a recent study published by state-run Petra news agency.
"We see many expatriates and tourists this summer, which also increases the pressure of water consumption ... We face the problem of water shortage in the summertime quite often," said Ali Al-Sheikh, a resident of the capital Amman.
The water shortage, in turn, raised the operational costs in the tourism sector, which is one of the pillar industries in Jordan, said Petra's study.
Refugee crises, changing climate and rainfall fluctuations have significantly affected Jordan's water sector, Jihad Mahamid, secretary-general of Jordan's Ministry of Water and Irrigation, said on Sunday.
Jordan plans to implement a major water project that entails desalinating the Red Sea water to deliver the processed water across the kingdom.
The 2.5-billion-U.S. dollar project, which is expected to be completed by 2027, will provide some 300 million cubic meters of desalinated water a year, the spokesman Salameh said. ■
