An international conference on water in Jordan

Deliberations of the international conference for water was opened yesterday at the " Dead Sea " resort, 30 Km to the south of Amman with the participation of 1500 water experts and officials from 30 countries. The event was held in the course of the efforts to maintain deteriorating water wealth and develop water resources.

During the five day seminar work papers will be discussed on organizing a balanced administration of water resources and projects of recycling or desalination of waters and fighting drought and desertification.

The minister of waters and irrigation in Jordan, Hazem al Nasser, told journalists that the conference will discuss requesting more water resources and the population increase which threaten the future of water resources in the world.

This conference, however, is considered a good opportunity for Jordan to mobilize international efforts to the Jordanian appeal to safeguard the dead Sea from diminishing through the Red Dea - Dead Sea canal project.

Jordan with its 90% desert lands is classified within the 10 poorest countries in the world regarding water resources. The deficit in the water resources in Jordan is estimated at 250 million cubic meters while annual consumption average of Jordanians, whose population is estimated at 5.2 million is estimated at one billion cubic meters.

However, individual per capita of water consumption in Jordan is estimated at 160 cubic meters annually.