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Project Developing Sustainable Water Management in the Jordan Valley

- The main objective of this project is to develop the scientific basis for an integral management plan of water resources and their use in the Jordan Valley.
- The project has started in November 1997 and will be completed by early 2001.
- The project will address the difficult situation of water scarcity and increased demand in the Jordan Valley study region by synthesizing the available data through advanced geographic information systems (GIS) and models.

Project number ERB-IC18-CT-1997-0161
Subject(s) no translation available
Acronym Jordan Valley Water
Geographical coverage Austria, Israel, Palestine
Budget (in €) n/a
Programme INCO MED (FP5)
Web site http://systemforschung.arcs.ac.at/jowapubl/
Objectives - Key principles of this project’s approach are:
 
•    comprehensive scientific view of the water resources and use in the Jordan Valley as a whole;
•    systematic collection and integration of existing data for data synthesis, modeling and assessment;
•    projection of likely socio-economic development to identify sustainable management directions      and    associated water use;
•    free flow of project relevant information between the project partners;
•    presentation of scientific results in practically applicable formats.

- The basis of the work is the collection and harmonization of basic data on the water supply and demand system in the region.

- The current irrigation, water collection, and delivery practices in all three bordering countries are analyzed.

- A set of models is applied in order to be able to assess and project the consequences of current management practices, and to evaluate options for improved availability of water resources.

- These results are evaluated in view of the expected socio-economic development in the region.

- Through high-level synthesis of results the project will be able to provide options for policy makers for the optimization of management regimes.
Results - The outputs of this joint project will provide a scientifically sound basis for better understanding the situation in the Jordan Valley and thus will directly benefit the future development, stability, and sustainability of the region.

- Final results will include:

•    Provision of new knowledge about actual and projected water resources and flows in the regions including supply and demand
•    Establishment of a harmonized GIS-based water database compatible with European and global standards;
•    Identification of the impact of surface water diversions, irrigation practices, and water delivery   methods on the hydrological budget of the study area;

- Recommendations for optimizing the water usage in the region that will ensure sustainability and environmental protection.
Period [01/11/1997 - 30/04/2001]

Partners

  • AUSTRIAN RESEARCH CENTERS SIEBERDORF
    - The ARC Seibersdorf Research GmbH is part of the Austrian Research Centers (ARC) Holding. It is Austria's largest non-university establishment for applied research and development.

    - The Environmental Planning Unit has focused its activities on the synthesis and visualization of environmental data through linking advanced dynamic models with geographical information systems. In the last years most research activities were on modeling of spatial patterns of environmental impacts (e.g. multicausal risk mapping for forest dieback) and information for environmental decision making (e.g. regional air quality management plans).
    - Much of the environmental research is being carried out by request of national and regional governments.
    Coordinator acts as project coordinator
    Type
    Country Austria
    Web site http://systemforschung.arcs.ac.at/orthofer
    Contact ORTHOFER RUDOLF,
    Position: Scientific Leaders
    Phone/fax: +43-2254-780-3888, +43-2254-780-3873
    Email: rudolf.orthofer@arcs.ac.at
  • Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem
    Water And Environment Research Unit
    Type
    Country Palestine
    Web site http://www.arij.org/
    Contact Mr. Jad Isaac,
    Position:
    Phone/fax: 00972 2 741 889 , 00972 2 277.6966
    Email: Jad@arij.org
  • EnviroConsult Office (ECO)
    Type
    Country Jordan
    Contact Eng. Raed Daoud,
    Position: Scientific leader of Jordanian team
    Phone/fax: +962-6-569.9769, +962-6-569.7264
    Email: eco@go.com.jo
  • Hebrew University Jerusalem
    Graduate School of Applied Sciences
    Type
    Country Israel
    Web site http://www.huji.ac.il
    Contact Prof. Hillel Shuval,
    Position: Scientific leader of Israeli team
    Phone/fax: +972-2-658.4151, +972-2-563.5886
    Email: hshuval@vms.huji.ac.il
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