Farmers in Madaba Tuesday appealed to the government to “rescue” their crops and orchards, which are facing “slow death” after a local dam and a lifeline of the agribusiness almost dried up.
They told Petra that the livelihoods of tens of local households depend on farming in the areas surrounding and irrigated by the Al-Wala Dam, some 40km southwest of Amman, where water storage plunged to unseen levels as a result of unrestrained pumping and low precipitation in the previous wet season.
They called on the Ministry of Water and Irrigation to act swiftly and find quick solutions by opening closed artisan wells in the area to irrigate crops, dredging the dam, providing support through the Agricultural Risk Fund of the Ministry of Agriculture and “standing by their side in this ordeal”.
Jordan Valley Authority Secretary Manar Mahasneh said scarce rainfall, an evaporation rate of 9,000 cubic meters per day and excessive withdrawal from the dam’s lake are to blame for the dry-up of the reservoir. She indicated that the Ministry of Water and Irrigation is currently conducting a study on removing sediment from the dam’s lake.
Source: Jordan News Agency