Towards Sustainable Management of Jerash Watershed: The (SMAP) Project PDF

Keywords

sustainability, wadis, hydrology, Jerash Watershed, Jordan

Abstract

With limited resources and rapidly increasing demands, sustainability is becoming an increasingly important issue, yet difficult goal to achieve in wadis (Salih and Ghanem, 2003). Sustainability of wadi systems is more complicated due to the conflicts and interactions among the different resource utilizations. Therefore, sustainability of wadi systems, and rather any natural entity, can only be achieved through an integrated management approach. In this study, an attempt is made to summarize the challenges facing sustainable development of a wadi system (Wadi Jerash) and to propose some solutions towards achieving that goal. The challenges considered in this paper include technical, socio-economic, environmental, institutional, political and legal aspects. Wadi Jerash project area, defined as the surface catchment of the Zerqa River in Jordan, is taken as an example due to its characteristics as a natural environmental set-up that need to be managed in a comprehensive and sustainable manner. The proposed methodologies are based on the outcome of wadi al Far'a and Jerash integrated watershed management project. The overall aim of the project is to create sustainable development conditions for the study area through which water resources, natural resources and human resources are protected and conserved.