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Progress in Israel-Jordan water cooperation deal
Israel and Jordan are progressing in negotiations over water exchanges between the two sides, according to reports in the Israeli media this week.
A water desalination plant will be built in Aqaba, and Jordan will supply Israel with desalinated water to be used in the Negev. In return, Israel will supply Jordan with fresh water from Kinneret reservoir to be used in the north of the Hashemite Kingdom, according to the developing outline.
This outline is meant to save Jordanians the transport costs involved in moving water from southern to northern Jordan. Such a move would be ideal for Jordan because transferring water from the desalination plant near Aqaba in the south to the country’s water starved north would be much more expensive than embarking upon this plan, as stressed by the countries PM. Jordan’s Prime Minister Abdullah a-Nasour confirmed this week that the Kingdom would indeed trade water with Israel and in a press conference in Amman said “we need water in the north, and Israel wants water in the south.”
Israel and Jordan are attempting to create an alternative for the outline agreed upon in the 1994 peace accords between the two countries, according to which Israel supplies Jordan with 50 million cubic meters of water annually.
In recent months Israel raised the amount of water it supplies to Jordan in order to help its neighbour handle the severe water shortage it is facing, also caused by the new demand posed by the gargantuan influx of Syrian refugees into the country. The number of Syrians fleeing into Jordan from the civil war in their country has crossed the half million mark in the sparsely populated country of 6.3 million.
Israel’s Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom’s office told Ynetnews: “The minister is actively pushing this project forward. The matter is yet to be finalised, but it’s in its advanced stages.” The minister’s office confirmed that a larger amount of water than agreed upon in the peace accords was transferred to Jordan, and said “we have a chance to help to everyone’s benefit.”