60 years of BGR cooperation with Jordan in the field of geosciences

BGR President Prof. Dr. Ralph Watzel and the State Secretary of the MWI, Eng. Ali Subah

Since 60 years the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) has been actively involved in the framework of development cooperation with Jordan. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), BGR is currently advising the Jordanian authorities on groundwater management. On the 60th anniversary of the cooperation, 14th November 2019 a conference on "Groundwater Resources of Jordan" took place in the Jordanian capital of Amman, attended by some 250 experts from the water sector. An exhibition on "Groundwater in Jordan" complemented the conference.

In the presence of the Jordanian Water Minister, Eng. Raed Abu Soud, the permanent representative of the German Ambassador in Jordan, Mrs. Ulla Brunkhorst, and BGR President Prof. Dr. Ralph Watzel, the new publication "Groundwater Resource Assessment of Jordan 2017" was presented. The study, prepared jointly by the Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI) and BGR, provides up-to-date information on the status of the groundwater resources in Jordan. In a panel discussion, the importance of a more careful use of the limited groundwater resources and a more sustainable water management was pointed out in order to secure Jordan's water supply in the long term.

Report "Groundwater Resource Assessment of Jordan 2017"

At the beginning of the 60 years of cooperation with Jordan, a geological mapping exercise was undertaken that identified the most important raw material deposits in the country. Due to this successful cooperation with the "Natural Resources Authority (NRA)", the range of topics expanded. At the end of the 1960s, the first studies on groundwater resources in Jordan took place. In the 1980s, BGR carried out investigations for oil shale exploration in the country. During the 1990s and at the beginning of this millennium, the activities increasingly shifted towards groundwater protection with the designation of water protection areas. Today's technical cooperation focuses on supporting the Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI) in the management of scarce groundwater resources, Jordan's most important source of drinking water. As part of the ongoing project "Groundwater Resources Management", staff of the MWI is trained in the collection, processing and publication of data and in the establishment of well field management.