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The mandate of GLOWA is to provide scientific support for sustainable water management under global change. The GLOWA Jordan River Project addresses the vulnerability of water resources in eastern Mediterranean environments under global change and evaluates adaptation options. Natural water availability (per capita) in the Jordan River region is among the lowest in the world and spatially and temporally highly variable. Therefore, the study region is highly vulnerable to changes in availability of water. Vulnerability to global change will further increase, due to several trends that affect water availability, demand and quality: For example, climate trend analyses have indicated that natural water availability has decreased over the past decades and climate models increasingly agree on further aridification of the eastern Mediterranean under climate change. Also, climate variability and frequency and intensity of hydro-meteorological extremes are expected to increase further. At the same time, water demand has increased, following population growth and economic development. Given that population growth rates are among the highest in the world, further increases in demand are expected. Water quality is impacted, too, in particular with respect to salt content, largely due to agricultural activities, irrigation and wastewater management. This pressing water scarcity has immediate impacts on the region’s development and the integrity of ecosystems. In particular during drought periods, not all of the competing demands can be fulfilled. Water allocations under increasing scarcity are closely interlinked with the political situation. Given these water-related pressures, region-specific adaptation options need to be identified and evaluated for their potential to reduce vulnerability of humans and ecosystems and to ensure future water security. Due to the multi-dimensionality of the problem, a large number of transdisciplinary studies are integrated within the GLOWA Jordan River project. Phase 1 of GLOWA Jordan River (which started in Israel and Germany in 2001, in PA and Jordan in 2003) has consolidated available data, provided new baseline data and information and has tested and established empirical and theoretical methods for monitoring, assessing and simulating the regional water resources and their interactions and feedbacks with natural ecosystems and agriculture. Also, phase 1 has initiated the collaboration of the partners and has established the research teams, upon which phase 2 activities rely.
For phase 1, we have selected three focus regions for detailed baseline studies. These regions are representative for investigating the main drivers of changes in the water systems in the three countries involved in GLOWA Jordan River. The three focus regions are:
The upper Jordan River catchment represents the less arid part of the catchment, with relatively high precipitation and runoff, and with intensive irrigated agriculture. This focus region in Israel is well suited to assess the effects of land management in combination with climate change on water quality. Further, climate effects on runoff in the headwaters of the Jordan River, including changes in snowfall are simulated. Wadi Faria in the West Bank drains into the lower Jordan River and belongs to the more arid part of the basin, with low precipitation though steep climatic gradients, and intermittent runoff only during rainfall events. Agriculture in the West Bank is mostly rain-fed and water supply relies primarily on ground water. A focus of GLOWA Jordan River for this region is on the conjunctive use of ground and surface water and on the management of wastewater. Similar to Wadi Fariah, Wadi Shueib in Jordan also drains into the lower Jordan River. It also belongs to the more arid part of the basin, but is characterized by a steep climatic gradient ranging from dry Mediterranean climate to arid conditions. Wadi Shueib, with its reservoir and a wastewater treatment plant in the catchment, represents one of the highly modified wadis in the basin with little natural runoff left. GLOWA Jordan River assesses, for example, different irrigation practices and related water productivities.
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