Construction of Wadi Al Karak Dam to begin Thursday

AMMAN — Construction work is scheduled to commence Thursday on the Wadi Al Karak Dam, which will store rain and flood water for the irrigation of crops and livestock in the desert area, according to the Ministry of Water and Irrigation.

Water Minister Hazem Nasser and US Ambassador to Jordan Alice G. Wells are scheduled to launch construction on the project at the site, some 140km south of Amman.

“The new dam will be built with a capacity to store two million cubic metres (mcm). Its water will be used for the irrigation of crops as well as livestock, which will support the development of local communities in Karak,” Jordan Valley Authority Secretary General Saad Abu Hammour said Wednesday.

In addition, the dam will collect water from flash floods in the surrounding catchment area and store it to recharge underground aquifers.

“The dam will be constructed at a cost of JD11 million. The US Department of Agriculture provided JD7.5 million as a grant and the Treasury provided JD3.5 million,” Water Ministry Spokesperson Omar Salameh told The Jordan Times.

Wadi Al Karak Dam is one of several dams the ministry is constructing in different regions of the country to increase water storage.

In August, the ministry announced a water harvesting plan to raise rainwater storage in dams by over 25 per cent within five years. Under the plan, new dams will be constructed to raise the overall storage capacity from the current 327mcm to more than 400mcm.

The plan entails the construction of new dams and scores of sand dams, desert dams and ponds in the badia to meet the water needs of local communities and recharge underground aquifers to improve their water quality, according to the ministry.

Ten major dams are located across the Kingdom, in addition to more than 143 large ponds to collect floodwater in the desert and over 25 sand dams.

Although expensive to build, dams are vital for the Kingdom to secure its water needs, according to experts.