243
Cross-sector Highlands Water Strategy
A second opportunity lies in rethinking agriculture in the Highlands , where use of
strategically important, low-cost groundwater is controversial. High-volume water
use and low productivity point to scope for increasing agriculture’s effi ciency and
contribution to national wealth, for conserving renewable low-cost supplies through
sustainable use and for arresting aquifer depletion
18 whilst enhancing adaptive
capacity.
19 Jordan’s political transition and the increased public and parliamentary
scrutiny it will bring has put leaders on notice to pursue policies serving the national
interest rather than their own vested interests, providing political space for the
Prime Ministry and governing institutions to intervene with the required approach
to Highlands groundwater management.
Driven by national leaders, this would need to maximise the use of available
legal, fi nancial, technical and administrative levers to ensure groundwater is used
effi ciently and sustainably. It would build on the 2002 By-Law No 85 and would
need to involve stakeholders – as did the Highland Water Forum initiative – in its
design and implementation and to secure donor funding. A “carrot and stick”
approach to win the cooperation of landowners and farmers, or cajole them, to
change behaviour
20 and to assist the poor to adjust might include:
• Enlisting tribal interlocutors to explain the situation and solutions to water users
in a culturally sensitive manner . Shadow state members, identifying with the
national interest to reduce over-abstraction, would make excellent “political
champions” in a collective effort to optimise water use and productivity, according to one interviewee. Measures to improve on-farm effi ciency, raise government revenue and avoid social hardship might include:
• Incentives to encourage farmers voluntarily to change crops and production
methods or to cease farming in order to reduce groundwater use . Consensus has
grown among political elites and landowners on the need for suitable crop patterns. But crop transition will be long term, requiring steps to provide “win-win”
outcomes for wealthy and poor farmers and workers. Interventions to ease the
transition require study but might include: (a) subsidies, loans and debt
forgiveness (Denny et al 2008 , p. 11) where farms are profi table and farmers plan
behaviour shifts to reduce groundwater use and to generate increased productivity; (b) retirement packages and alternative income opportunities for those unable
18 According to a U.S. Geological Survey report cited in (USAID 2012 , p. 7), groundwater abstraction levels have declined over recent years. But they still exceed safe-yield.
19 Highlands irrigated agriculture is three times less productive than in the Jordan Valley, less profitable and accounted for over half (207 × 10
6 m
3 /year) of abstracted renewable groundwater, or
nearly 25 % of total resources allocated in 2010 (Subah and Habjoka 2011 ).
20 The government has been reluctant to press for demand management in the past because this
involved confronting infl uential landowners resisting reforms. Ministry of Agriculture’s conservative policy is best understood in this context, though it also strongly champions the poor. The
Ministry’s cap for overall irrigation use set at 700 × 10
6 m
3 /year may be politically-doable, but is
arguably too high (510 × 10
6 m
3 in 2010).
15 Jordan’s Shadow State and Water Management: Prospects for Water Security…
Cross-sector Highlands Water Strategy
A second opportunity lies in rethinking agriculture in the Highlands , where use of
strategically important, low-cost groundwater is controversial. High-volume water
use and low productivity point to scope for increasing agriculture’s effi ciency and
contribution to national wealth, for conserving renewable low-cost supplies through
sustainable use and for arresting aquifer depletion
18 whilst enhancing adaptive
capacity.
19 Jordan’s political transition and the increased public and parliamentary
scrutiny it will bring has put leaders on notice to pursue policies serving the national
interest rather than their own vested interests, providing political space for the
Prime Ministry and governing institutions to intervene with the required approach
to Highlands groundwater management.
Driven by national leaders, this would need to maximise the use of available
legal, fi nancial, technical and administrative levers to ensure groundwater is used
effi ciently and sustainably. It would build on the 2002 By-Law No 85 and would
need to involve stakeholders – as did the Highland Water Forum initiative – in its
design and implementation and to secure donor funding. A “carrot and stick”
approach to win the cooperation of landowners and farmers, or cajole them, to
change behaviour
20 and to assist the poor to adjust might include:
• Enlisting tribal interlocutors to explain the situation and solutions to water users
in a culturally sensitive manner . Shadow state members, identifying with the
national interest to reduce over-abstraction, would make excellent “political
champions” in a collective effort to optimise water use and productivity, according to one interviewee. Measures to improve on-farm effi ciency, raise government revenue and avoid social hardship might include:
• Incentives to encourage farmers voluntarily to change crops and production
methods or to cease farming in order to reduce groundwater use . Consensus has
grown among political elites and landowners on the need for suitable crop patterns. But crop transition will be long term, requiring steps to provide “win-win”
outcomes for wealthy and poor farmers and workers. Interventions to ease the
transition require study but might include: (a) subsidies, loans and debt
forgiveness (Denny et al 2008 , p. 11) where farms are profi table and farmers plan
behaviour shifts to reduce groundwater use and to generate increased productivity; (b) retirement packages and alternative income opportunities for those unable
18 According to a U.S. Geological Survey report cited in (USAID 2012 , p. 7), groundwater abstraction levels have declined over recent years. But they still exceed safe-yield.
19 Highlands irrigated agriculture is three times less productive than in the Jordan Valley, less profitable and accounted for over half (207 × 10
6 m
3 /year) of abstracted renewable groundwater, or
nearly 25 % of total resources allocated in 2010 (Subah and Habjoka 2011 ).
20 The government has been reluctant to press for demand management in the past because this
involved confronting infl uential landowners resisting reforms. Ministry of Agriculture’s conservative policy is best understood in this context, though it also strongly champions the poor. The
Ministry’s cap for overall irrigation use set at 700 × 10
6 m
3 /year may be politically-doable, but is
arguably too high (510 × 10
6 m
3 in 2010).
15 Jordan’s Shadow State and Water Management: Prospects for Water Security…