Sustainable Management of Available Water Resources with innovative Technologies

The Lower Jordan Rift Valley (LJRV) is a geotectonic feature bordered by a deep-seated fault system that creates an elongated and narrow basin which extends from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the Dead Sea in the south. Its margins are the Jordanian highland in the east and the Judean Mountains in the west. Its geology and topography is rather complex and displays notable differences between the eastern part (Jordan) and the western one (Palestine and Israel). The Lower Jordan Valley is one of the water scarcest regions in the world. The poverty of the local population and the “dark and severe” physical conditions were the driving force for the German government (BMBF) to establish a multi-lateral (German, Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli) scientific project (SMART) for the exploration and management of sustainable water resources. As the fresh water resources are already exploited, the focus of the project is directed for the availability of brackish water aquifers either for direct agricultural use (irrigation) or desalination. Another source is temarorary surface runoff and treated effluent that can be a source for artificial recharge into the alluvial aquifer. Integrated water Resources Management (IWRM) is seen as concept to tackle the water issues. SMART is a research and development project on IWRM and has the overall goal to develop a transferable concept for a sustainable water resources management in the Lower Jordan Valley.