Abstract This article shed light on the shadow state, investigating who belongs to it, their interests, and their relation to the water sector. This is important because Jordan is known to be among the most water scarce countries in the world and some water professionals see in the shadow state an obstacle to implementing successful water policies, resulting to be one of the main reasons behind inefficiencies in the water sector in the country. Furthermore, an in-depth investigation of the relation between the shadow state and the water sector is needed. This article makes a contribution by analysing the current challenges posed by the shadow state to efficient operations of the water institutions as well as wider government, and the difficulties they encounter in responding with reforms in Jordan. This analysis will serve policy makers and water professionals to better understand how to navigate the complex Jordanian water sector. This is particularly important nowadays in order to ensure socio-economic and political stability of Jordan in the aftermath of the so-called “Arab Spring”.
#1Hussam Hussein(UEA: University of East Anglia)H-Index: 13
AbstractExtensive literature has shown the impact of water scarcity discourses on national policies, however the impact of water scarcity discourses on transboundary water governance has been overlooked. This article contributes to filling this gap by investigating the impact of the water scarcity discourse in the case of Jordan, specifically on three cases of transboundary water governance: the Yarmouk River, the Jordan River and the Disi Aquifer. This article shows that the water scarcity disc...
#1Hussam Hussein(UEA: University of East Anglia)H-Index: 13
This article investigates the representation of water scarcity in Jordanian textbooks to understand its role on improving education on environmental sustainability. People's understanding of an issue guides their actions toward finding and implementing appropriate solutions to what they perceive as a problem. Discourses are key in constructing people's understanding of issues, in this case, water scarcity. This article shows the role of textbooks and of the educational system in constructing a d...
#2Hahn Chul Jung(GSFC: Goddard Space Flight Center)H-Index: 16
Last. Hussam Hussein(UEA: University of East Anglia)H-Index: 13
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This article assesses drought status in the Yarmouk Basin (YB), in northern Jordan, using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), the Standardized Water-Level Index (SWI), and the Percent Departure from Normal rainfall (PDNimd) during the years 1993–2014. The results showed that the YB suffers from frequent and irregular periods of drought as variations in drought intensity and frequency have been observed. The SPI results revealed that the highest drought magnitude of − 2.34 appeared at Nua...
#1Hussam Hussein(UEA: University of East Anglia)H-Index: 13
This article investigates Jordanian and Syrian hydropolitical discourses around the bilateral relations along the Yarmouk River, with a focus on the decreased flow of the Yarmouk River reaching the Wahda Dam. The article examines the bilateral agreements, the hydropolitical discourses they generate, and the competing solutions they open. By situating the analysis in the broader Jordanian–Syrian relations and considerations of power asymmetries, the empirical case study of the Yarmouk River Basin...
#1Hussam Hussein(UEA: University of East Anglia)H-Index: 13
This article explores how the idea of a canal connecting the Dead Sea with either the Red Sea or the Mediterranean Sea has evolved. It analyzes the proposals, the official interests, and the undeclared reasons. It provides a critical understanding of the discourses behind the complex hydro-political dynamics in a changing and contested topography within the context of a wider geopolitical conflict. This study sheds lights on the relations between interests, discourses, and the canal project. Thi...
#1Hussam Hussein(UEA: University of East Anglia)H-Index: 13
#2Mattia Grandi(Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies)H-Index: 4
This paper explores the evolving patterns of hydropolitical relations in the dynamic contexts of Yarmouk and Blue Nile Rivers in comparison. The analysis aims at shedding light over the complex implications that recent political and social changes have aroused for the water disputes between Jordan and Syria on the one hand, and Ethiopia and Egypt on the other. In both basins, cooperative efforts toward the integrated management of transboundary waters have been only partially effective and large...
This thesis investigates the construction of the discourse of water scarcity in Jordan. First, it identifies the actors constructing the discourse, their interests, and the elements comprising the discourse. Second, it examines the effects of the deployment of the discourse of water scarcity on policy-options, analysing the solutions opened and closed by the discourse in the national water strategy. Third, it explores the effects of the deployment of the discourse on transboundary water governan...
Jordan is often held up as one of the most water scarce countries in the world. The water scarcity in the country is not an absolute, but rather a politically mediated reality. The cubic meter numbers for Jordan may very well point toward absolute scarcity, but those numbers hide as much as they reveal. They hide the worlds of meaning, emotion, and social interactions centered around water. It is no surprise then that despite donor-driven push for greater economic rationality in water resources ...
Over two decades, many have regarded the idea of a Red Sea–Dead Sea (RSDS) Conveyance Project to save the Dead Sea as a golden opportunity for Jordan. It held promise of providing the Kingdom with desalinated water to meet its long-term needs. Now, with the project’s potential abandonment, Jordan needs to consolidate and accelerate reforms to close its deficits and improve water sector sustainability until a long-term bulk solution is found. Addressing how these challenges might be dealt with, t...
Virtual water is an important addendum to how we view a country's water resources. This study examines the virtual water embedded in Jordan's agricultural produce and its impact on future water-energy-food policies. Blue and green virtual waters are calculated from data on rainfall, crop patterns, yields, and water requirements at the district level. Results highlight the advantages of blue water usage in the Jordan Valley and of harnessing more available green water in the Highlands, with both ...
The increased demand for water resources due to urban population and economic growth has worsened the urban water crisis. In order to address this issue, a policy of “developing a water-saving society” (namely, water-saving society policy) has been implemented in some Chinese cities. This study takes 285 cities at the prefecture level and above as the sample and uses the propensity score matching (PSM) method to analyze the effect of China’s urban water-saving society policy on the reduction of ...
Abstract Nuclear energy programs are currently under formalization in countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with the first power plants in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to be operational in 2020, and Saudi Arabia's program under development. A political-economic narrative stresses potential benefits such as the diversification of energy sources, the centralization/maintenance of power in the energy supply sector, and the preservation of carbon fuel reserves for export purposes. H...
Last. Ali Abbasi(FUM: Ferdowsi University of Mashhad)H-Index: 6
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The growth of Iran’s agricultural sector in the past few decades has exerted enormous pressure on its aquifers. There is a strong disparity between economic development and natural resource endowments, which threatens water and food security. In this paper, we used a multiregional input–output (MRIO) framework to assess the virtual water flows in Iran. We also estimate the internal and external water footprint of regions compared to their water availability. The results show that the northern pa...
Benchmarking techniques are useful and simple tools to analyze the performance of the collective irrigation in the Water User Associations (WUAs) towards an increase in service sustainability. Several benchmarking techniques have been proposed to process and predict performance indicators. Instead, some meaningful statistical techniques based on the distance of data samples, which overcome the limitations of the traditional benchmarking techniques, have never been applied to the collective irrig...
This research seeks to determine and analyze the reaction to an increase in the water invoice with the aim of introducing improvements in wastewater treatments. To this end, the purification situation is analyzed and the price elasticities of demand are obtained through Ordinary Minimum Squares. The results show that there are several small noncompliant treatment plants, as well as a complex interaction among consumption, price, and income. In many cases, the results offer small or significant d...
Abstract What happens on the coast, does not stay on the coast. Stakeholder power to shape decisions, agendas, and interests have a wide array of global consequences. Coastal management literature, however, pays relatively little attention to discussions of how power is used among stakeholders, limiting the inquiry to elitist and pluralist perspectives — who has the power and makes decisions. Consequently, power on the coast remains understudied. In political science, power has generated a consi...
ABSTRACTThis article draws from the concept of Shadow State to analyse the effects of tourism development in a Shadow State environment using the Okavango Delta (OD) in Botswana as a case study. Th...
In order to balance between financial and social constraints of water and respond to competing for water requirements, it is important to sustain and manage essential water systems. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate sustainable water management in specific sectors: urban, agricultural, and environmental and addresses questions, such as (1) how is sustainable water management described and assessed? (2) what challenges occur in sustainable water development in different sectors? (3) which as...
Last. Waqar Ahmad(USYD: University of Sydney)H-Index: 46
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Abstract Land and water are the most basic resources for the food production systems. However, the looming water scarcity is threatening the sustainability of food production systems and is causing the food security challenges. Crop production on marginal and degraded lands using non-conventional water resources may help achieve the food security for the future generations. Non-conventional water resources (NCW), viz. saline water, wastewater and greywater, can be used for food production system...