According to the latest country-wide census, there are nearly 9.5m in the country, up from 2.2m in 1990. You would think that any one of these interventions would have a greater impact. The Jordan River, seen here, is now mostly saline water and liquid wastes. Other environmental concerns include water-level fluctuations in Lake Tiberias and the associated risk of saline water intrusion from below, and, more importantly, the decline of the Dead Sea, which all threaten the stability of the basin ecosystem. In Saudi Arabia, only 18% of the wastewater produced daily is sent through treatment plants and reused.177 Some of the benefits of wastewater treatment thus far are the reduction in the amount of polluted water, the addition of significant amounts of water, the safeguarding of freshwater resources, and the production of nutrient rich water which is better for the crop yields.178 The amount of wastewater generated annually in the MENA region is 13.2 billion cubic meters, and 43.2% of it is treated and redistributed.179 The sector most affected by the water produced is agriculture, to which 83% of the water goes after treatment.180, While no gaps regarding this project can be found in the official report, gaps involving wastewater treatment at large do exist. AnnexationAnnexation adds territory to ones own territory by appropriation.1, Area C zoneThese are areas in the Jordan Valley and further into Palestine that are under the control of the Israeli government and military.2,3, BedouinsIn Palestine, these Arabic-speaking desert nomads of the Middle East"4 are the residents of rural and isolated communities.5, DesalinationThe desalination process removes salt from salt water and treats the water to be suitable for drinking and farming.6, DesertificationTraditionally, desertification is defined as land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas resulting mainly from adverse human impact.7 A more recent definition states that it is a change in soil properties, vegetation or climate, which results in a change in persistent loss of ecosystem services that are fundamental to sustaining life.8, Freshwater rechargeThis is a process with the objective of replenishing water in an aquifer or filling it back up with water.9, Gaza or Gaza StripThe Palestinian territory next to Israel and along the coast is known as Gaza or the Gaza Strip.10 The water scarcity situation in Gaza is very similar if not identical to the situation in the Jordan Valley itself.11 Although Israel disengaged from this territory in 2005,12 Israel imposed a sea, land, and air blockade on Gaza in 2007 and established almost complete control over all water resources there. Thus, alternative resources, including treated wastewater, for irrigation are highly desirable.172 This practice provides farmers with an alternative source of irrigation water that would not be viable drinking water, leaving more of the freshwater resources available for domestic use.173, From 2006 to 2011, a project was implemented by the Jordan Valley Authority in collaboration with organizations from Germany to strengthen the wastewater treatment process and make it more sustainable.174 The goal of this project was to create a program and infrastructure that would continue after the withdrawal of the program. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. Some desalination plants use solar energy in order to alleviate the issue of CO2 emissions, but this does not make the process any more sustainable.170 The water is being taken from a non-renewable source that will eventually become depleted just as the aquifers.171, Wastewater treatment is the process of taking water that is unusable and removing the elements necessary to make it usable for irrigation. Once a mighty river, the Jordan is now heavily polluted, reduced to a mere trickle. Gaza or Gaza Strip The Palestinian territory next to Israel and along the coast is known as Gaza or the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Water Authority found that the salinity of the coastal aquifers alone has increased dramatically in the last 30 years due to over-pumping and sea water infiltration.89 This increase in salinity is not just affecting coastal water sources but resources throughout the region as well. Jordans state-run Petra news agency said the plan will hopefully increase water supplies and create job opportunities for those living on both sides of the Jordan River, including Palestinians., EcoPeace Middle East, a cross-border environmental group that has promoted Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian cooperation on water issues, said the agreement to rehabilitate the Jordan River was a critical climate adaptation measure that can help bring back 50% of the biodiversity lost because of decades of pollution and freshwater diversion.. A number of small islands have emerged at. In the spring of 2017, Hannah chose Israel as the location for her high school senior trip, where she first saw indications of the water crisis, prompting her to further research the topic. The Jordan River in Utah is at risk of contamination due to the illegal dumping of concrete materials in the Jordan wetlands. "The clock started ticking on the state and federal mandate to clean up the pollution in the river and Jordan Lake back in 2002, when it made the . September18,2008. This is mostly carried out through filling points, which are sections along pipelines with openings for residents to retrieve water. The environment is both a factor in causing the water crisis and a victim of it. More than half the worlds population sees AP journalism every day. The largest tributary to the lower Jordan, the Yarmouk River, has similarly had all its waters diverted by Syria and Jordan. Though there are short term solutions in place, such as desalination and wastewater treatment, these solutions only last as long as the water sourcewhich is waning quickly. But, Bromberg notes, international development groups are starting to help with the cleanup process. In recent years the once-rushing waters of the Jordan River have been reduced to a trickle as population growth and climate change take their toll. Special thanks to Madison Coleman for editing and research contributions. The MENA region was historically home to some of the worlds largest and most powerful civilizations, and their environment was often described as the Fertile Crescent.127 Now, the area is dry, brown, and void of leafy green vegetation. Stay up to date on the latest science news by signing up for our Essentials newsletter. The contamination has yet to spread to the River itself, but federal investigations are underway due to a video obtained by the U.S Army on January 7th, displaying various compounds being poured onto property owned by Owell Precast (now known as Olympus Precast), an American precast company serving government, commercial and residential sectors for their concrete needs. The underlying reason is always the same: We view rivers not as valuable in themselves, supplying vital ecosystem services to people, fish, animals, and plants, but rather as merely tools for humans and economic development. This greatly limits residents access to drinkable water and materials necessary for sanitation infrastructure.13,14,15, Groundwater aquifersGroundwater is water found underground in the cracks and spaces in soil, sand and rock.16 Sixty-five percent of the total harvested groundwater comes from nonrenewable aquifers.17 Aquifers are the rocks or other geological formations that conduct and transmit this groundwater.18, HydrologyThe branch of science concerned with the properties of the earths water, and especially its movement in relation to the land is known as hydrology.19, New Israeli Shekel (NIS)NIS is the Israeli currency used in the Jordan Valley. Second, wastewater treatment has had positive impacts on the environment, such as reduced salinity, energy consumption, and CO2-emission.176, Though wastewater treatment is not currently a prominent practice, it is promising. The River Jordan has flowed freely for thousands of years, its name immortalized in the Hebrew Bible and its lush upper reaches once known as the gates to the Garden of Eden. It is estimated that around 80% of wastewater is dumped into rivers and oceans. Due to overdrawing from aquifers, there is not a sufficient amount of time for freshwater recharge, causing the salinity of these coastal MENA aquifers to increase rapidly.91 This increased salinity makes the water less usable because it leads to health problems if consumed, thereby perpetuating the issue of the scarcity of clean water.92. The Jordan River is the main provider for much of the Middle East's agriculture. If it were up to environmentalists, countries in the region would import more produce in order to save the Jordan and other water sources in the water-deprived Middle East. Because its waters are a vital resource for the dry lands of the region, the Jordan has been a source of contention among Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians.. One of our core beliefs is that the region will never achieve a lasting peace until we begin talking directly to each other. Buildings have been swallowed up by sinkholes that have opened up on land nearby. SmartRock is a registered trademark of Giatec Scientific Inc., the U.S. registration no. But it turns out you have to do everything, Gorelick said. This ecological catastrophe has been overshadowed by decades of war and regional conflict. Future research could look for signs of contamination in various parts of this region to learn more about how pollution in this area might have varied over time, Adams said. This pollution, coupled with the diversion of much of the river's clean water by Israel, Syria and Jordan, is endangering the riverthe backdrop of many biblical narrativesto the point of extinction. The first river polluted by humanity may have been discovered in Jordan, contaminated by copper about 7,000 years ago, a new study finds. The Dead Sea a major tourist resort with hundreds of thousands tourists visiting each year to bob about in its salt and mineral-rich waters has shrunk by a third during the last 20 years, arounda metre every 12 months. It is said to be the body of water which the Israelites crossed to reach their promised land and in which Jesus was baptised. Irrigated agriculture in the Jordan Valley uses 42% of the freshwater supply, which is urgently needed for drinking water. UN drains oil from ticking time bomb tanker off Yemen, Heatwave: See how it's hitting the Middle East, Explorers embark on voyage to determine if Amazon is longer than Nile River, Life on an impoverished Nile island 'between the two seas', 'Diseased water': Gazans go thirsty as sewage and pollution poison wells. Israel and Jordan have signed a declaration of intent, Thursday, Nov. 17 at the U.N. climate conference to conserve and protect their shared Jordan River a sacred waterway nearly running dry because of climate change, pollution and other threats.

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