‘JD4 million in fines imposed on three people caught stealing water’

AMMAN — The Water Ministry has imposed fines worth JD4 million on three people who were caught stealing water, an official said on Saturday.

“The three violators of the water network and resources have been stealing water, claiming to be influential. They were arrested and are currently in custody. Their cases are now in court and they were fined JD4 million,” the official, who requested anonymity, told The Jordan Times.

He underscored that courts across the country are now examining 800 cases related to water violations referred by the ministry and security authorities.

The ministry, which launched a nationwide crackdown on violations on water resources in July 2013, announced on Saturday that it was intensifying its monitoring of the network across the country.

“More intensified efforts and programmes are now under way to seal all illegal wells and dismantle illegal fixtures on water mains. The ministry will deploy state-of-the-art technologies to uncover violations,” the official said.

The ministry banned the drilling of wells in 1997 to limit random pumping of water and preserve aquifers from depletion and salinity. There are 1,318 wells across the country, more than 400 of which are unlicensed or illegal, according to official figures.

Recent official studies on aquifers in Jordan indicated that random pumping of underground water has exceeded the safe yield, particularly after 2011 when the Syrian crisis started. 

The studies, carried out by the Water Ministry in cooperation with international institutions, indicated that levels of underground water in the country are dropping by five metres annually, while in certain aquifers, it has reached 60 metres over the past 15 years.

Under the ongoing campaign against water violations, authorities removed more than 552 illegal fixtures on water mains and carriers across the Kingdom in May, the ministry official said.

The Water Ministry and security authorities also sealed 18 illegal wells last month, raising the number of wells sealed since the campaign began to 644, according to the official.

Moreover, the ministry, water companies and security forces seized 32 drilling rigs, with the total number of confiscated rigs amounting to 159.

“Since the start of the campaign, more than 16,072 illegal fixtures on pipes and carriers have been dismantled,” the official said.

Moreover, the Jordan Valley Authority (JVA) dealt with 883 violations on state-owned land and registered over 4,104 infringements on the King Abdullah Canal since the campaign began, according to a JVA statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.

The 110-kilometre King Abdullah Canal, which is supplied by the Yarmouk River, irrigates 40 per cent of the crops in the Jordan Valley and provides some 40 per cent of the capital’s water after it is treated at the Zai Water Treatment Plant.