Jordan starts pumping water from DISI aquifer to Capital Amman

Jordan began pumping water from the southern aquifer of Disi today to help meet demand in the capital of one of the world’s driest countries, state-run Petra news agency said, citing the minister for water and irrigation.

Water from the $990 million project involved digging 55 wells in the ancient aquifer to pipe supplies 325 kilometers (200 miles) from Disi to Amman. Experimental pumping from the aquifer started at midnight and will ease water shortages in the capital and elsewhere over the next month, Hazem Nasser told Petra. The project by the Saudi border seeks to extract about 100 million cubic meters of water a year from the aquifer.

Gama Enerji AS carried out the project started in 2009. Only three countries have more severe water shortages than Jordan, according to Robert Blecher, Arab-Israeli Project Director for International Crisis Group, a New York policy group. Syrians fleeing their war-torn country for refugee camps and cities in Jordan have put a strain on water and other resources. About a half-million people have escaped Syria for Jordan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says.