Background
The Lower Jordan River – a major landmark in the Middle East – threatens to dry up. Of the 1.3 billion cubic meters of water, which would naturally flow in the river, more than 96 % is diverted for agricultural and domestic uses by the neighbouring countries. This, in addition to agricultural run-off and the discharge of large quantities of untreated sewage and saline water into the river, has not only done great damage to the river itself, but also to the area’s unique ecosystem and the 500 million migratory birds that rest in the Jordan River Valley twice each year. Furthermore, the Dead Sea, which relies on the Lower Jordan River as its primary water source, has reached a critical point of damage from the almost complete lack of fresh water flowing into it from the river. Both the European Union and the United States Senate have passed resolutions voicing concern over the deterioration of the river and calling on the Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian governments to make rehabilitation of the Lower Jordan River a priority.
Against this background, Global Nature Fund, Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) / Water and Environment Development Agency (WEDO), and the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), came together in 2012 to develop the first ever transboundary integrated NGO master plan for the Lower Jordan River. The rehabilitation of the river has been a central aim of FoEME since its foundation in 1994. Through political advocacy campaigns, major research, and regional rehabilitation efforts, real changes have already been made. In May 2013, for instance, Israel’s Water Authority declared that water will regularly be pumped from Lake Kinneret into the Lower Jordan River. This year, around 6 million cubic meters will flow into the river and the plan is to increase the inflow to 30 million cubic meters per year. This development is a promising start: for the first time Israel is willing to “waste” precious fresh water on nature conservation. However, this amount of water is not enough to replenish a river of the size like the Jordan. A study conducted by FoEME concludes that 400 - 600 million cubic meters of high quality water per year are needed to rehabilitate the Lower Jordan River. Furthermore, FoEME assessed that dedicated water saving and water demand management projects may save / generate up to a billion cubic meters of water.