Quantitative Assessment of Contested Water Uses and Management in the Conflict-Torn Yarmouk River Basin

Abstract

The Yarmouk River basin is shared between Syria, Jordan, and Israel. Since the 1960s, Yarmouk River flows have declined more than 85% despite the signature of bilateral agreements. Syria and Jordan blame each other for the decline and have both developed their own explanatory narratives: Jordan considers that Syria violated their 1987 agreement by building more dams than what was agreed on, while Syria blames climate change. In fact, as the two countries do not share information, neither on hydrological flows nor on water management, it is increasingly difficult to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic factors affecting the flow regime. Remote sensing and multiagent simulation are combined to carry out an independent, quantitative, analysis of Jordanian and Syrian competing narratives and show that a third cause for which there is no provision in the bilateral agreements actually explains much of the changes in the flow regime: groundwater over-abstraction by Syrian highland farmers.

Calculation and Management of Water Supply and Demand under Land Use/Cover Changes in the Yarmouk River Basin Governorates in Jordan

“…The flow of the Yarmouk Basin ranges between 11 m 3 /s to 0 [38], depending on individual rainfall events, as well as changes in the flow regime due to over-extraction by highland farmers and the construction of several dams in the upper part of the Yarmouk River on the Syrian side, which also led to lower flow rates of the river. The downstream flow of the Yarmouk River on the Jordanian side is impounded by the only major dam, which is the Wehdah Dam, where the dam's water is used to irrigate various crops in the Jordan Valley [39], and there are three desert dams located within the basin, namely Al Bouwayda Dam, Sama as Serhan Dam and Al Ghadir Al Abyad Dam. Wadi al Shalalah, Wadi ar Ruqqad, Wadi al Allan, Wadi al Showmar, Wadi al Ghadir Al Abyad and Wadi Shaqq al Barid are the main wadis in the Yarmouk Basin.…”

“…Wadi al Shalalah, Wadi ar Ruqqad, Wadi al Allan, Wadi al Showmar, Wadi al Ghadir Al Abyad and Wadi Shaqq al Barid are the main wadis in the Yarmouk Basin. Al Adasiya runoff gauge is an essential point in the Yarmouk Basin because it measures and monitors the total flow and surface runoff for the Yarmouk River [39]. Within the Yarmouk Basin, there are five municipal wastewater treatment plants (TPs), namely Al Akaidar TP, Wadi al Shalalah TP, Mafraq TP, Wadi Hassan TP and Ramtha TP [10].…”

Assessment of water resources in Yarmouk River Basin using geospatial technique during the period 1980–2020

“…Upstream diversion and the construction of Syrian dams since 1968 in the upper reaches of YRB have reduced the flow of the river available to Jordan by 85%. Moreover, groundwater over abstraction in the Syrian part of the basin also explains much of the changes in the streamflow (Avisse et al, 2020).…”

Water Environmental Capacity Calculation Based on Control of Contamination Zone for Water Environment Functional Zones in Jiangsu Section of Yangtze River, China

“…As a professional modeling software, MIKE takes into account both topography and hydrological conditions to improve the hydrodynamic simulation accuracy and further improve the water quality simulation accuracy. The calculation of WEC is beneficial to resolve contradictions among administrative regions [26]. A MIKE 11 model was established to study the WEC of Qinhuai River, the main tributary of the Yangtze River [27].…”