IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/iwt/jounls/h051830.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Shifting waters: the challenges of transitioning from freshwater to treated wastewater irrigation in the northern Jordan Valley

Author

Listed:
  • Tawfik, Mohamed Hassan

    (International Water Management Institute)

  • Al-Zawaidah, Hadeel

    (International Water Management Institute)

  • Hoogesteger, J.
  • Al-Zu'bi, Maha

    (International Water Management Institute)

  • Hellegers, Petra

    (International Water Management Institute)

  • Mateo-Sagasta, Javier

    (International Water Management Institute)

  • Elmahdi, A.

Abstract

Jordan’s water scarcity prompted a national plan whereby treated wastewater is utilized to amend agricultural irrigation water so as to reallocate freshwater to urban/domestic uses. The policy, however, has engendered farmers’ resistance in the Northern Jordan Valley (NJV), causing a stalemate in putting new infrastructure into operation. This research investigated the socio-economic causes of farmer resistance and contestation, and examined the government’s institutional approach to overcome the challenges. We found that the perceived risks of wastewater reuse such as salinization and restrictions from international markets figure prominently in the farmers resistance. As yet, farmers have managed to avoid the shift to treated wastewater use by using the political agency of elite farmers who control the Water Users Associations. These same farmers have adopted informal water access practices to overcome freshwater shortages. At the same time, small producers who don’t have possibilities to access extra water and with less political clout seem more willing to irrigate with treated wastewater. We conclude that understanding the heterogeneous context in which the envisioned wastewater users operate is key to predicting and solving conflicts that arise in treated wastewater reuse projects.

Suggested Citation

  • Tawfik, Mohamed Hassan & Al-Zawaidah, Hadeel & Hoogesteger, J. & Al-Zu'bi, Maha & Hellegers, Petra & Mateo-Sagasta, Javier & Elmahdi, A., 2023. "Shifting waters: the challenges of transitioning from freshwater to treated wastewater irrigation in the northern Jordan Valley," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 15(7):1315..
    • Handle: RePEc:iwt:jounls:h051830
    DOI: 10.3390/w15071315
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/15/7/1315/pdf?version=1680139072
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3390/w15071315?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Drechsel, Pay & Qadir, M. & Baumann, J., 2022. "Water reuse to free up freshwater for higher-value use and increase climate resilience and water productivity," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 1-10.().
    2. Manzoor Qadir & Pay Drechsel & Blanca Jiménez Cisneros & Younggy Kim & Amit Pramanik & Praem Mehta & Oluwabusola Olaniyan, 2020. "Global and regional potential of wastewater as a water, nutrient and energy source," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(1), pages 40-51, February.
    3. Qadir, M. & Drechsel, Pay & Cisneros, B. J. & Kim, Y. & Pramanik, A. & Mehta, P. & Olaniyan, O., 2020. "Global and regional potential of wastewater as a water, nutrient and energy source," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 44(1):40-51.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vasileios A. Tzanakakis & Andrea G. Capodaglio & Andreas N. Angelakis, 2023. "Insights into Global Water Reuse Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-30, August.
    2. Drechsel, Pay & Qadir, M. & Galibourg, D., 2022. "The WHO guidelines for safe wastewater use in agriculture: a review of implementation challenges and possible solutions in the global south," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 1-14(6):864.
    3. Ascioti, Fortunato A. & Mangano, Maria Cristina & Marcianò, Claudio & Sarà , Gianluca, 2022. "The sanitation service of seagrasses – Dependencies and implications for the estimation of avoided costs," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    4. Chloé Grison & Stef Koop & Steven Eisenreich & Jan Hofman & I-Shin Chang & Jing Wu & Dragan Savic & Kees Leeuwen, 2023. "Integrated Water Resources Management in Cities in the World: Global Challenges," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 37(6), pages 2787-2803, May.
    5. Sylwia Myszograj & Dariusz Bocheński & Mirosław Mąkowski & Ewelina Płuciennik-Koropczuk, 2021. "Biogas, Solar and Geothermal Energy—The Way to a Net-Zero Energy Wastewater Treatment Plant—A Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-15, October.
    6. Vicent Hernández-Chover & Águeda Bellver-Domingo & Lledó Castellet-Viciano & Francesc Hernández-Sancho, 2024. "AI Applied to the Circular Economy: An Approach in the Wastewater Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-18, February.
    7. Konstantina Fotia & George Nanos & Pantelis Barouchas & Markos Giannelos & Aikaterini Linardi & Aikaterini Vallianatou & Paraskevi Mpeza & Ioannis Tsirogiannis, 2022. "Growth Development, Physiological Status and Water Footprint Assessment of Nursery Young Olive Trees ( Olea europaea L. ‘Konservolea’) Irrigated with Urban Treated Wastewater," Resources, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-14, April.
    8. Wirginia Tomczak & Marek Gryta, 2022. "Energy-Efficient AnMBRs Technology for Treatment of Wastewaters: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-40, July.
    9. Débora Cynamon Kligerman & Aline Stelling Zanatta & Graziella de Araújo Toledo & Joseli Maria da Rocha Nogueira, 2023. "Path toward Sustainability in Wastewater Management in Brazil," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(16), pages 1-19, August.
    10. Simhayov, Reuven & Ohana-Levi, Noa & Shenker, Moshe & Netzer, Yishai, 2023. "Effect of long-term treated wastewater irrigation on soil sodium levels and table grapevines' health," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    11. Odabaş Baş, Gözde & Aydınalp Köksal, Merih, 2022. "Environmental and techno-economic analysis of the integration of biogas and solar power systems into urban wastewater treatment plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 579-597.
    12. Alan Alvarez-Holguin & Gabriel Sosa-Perez & Omar Castor Ponce-Garcia & Carlos Rene Lara-Macias & Federico Villarreal-Guerrero & Carlos Gustavo Monzon-Burgos & Jesus Manuel Ochoa-Rivero, 2022. "The Impact of Treated Wastewater Irrigation on the Metabolism of Barley Grown in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-16, February.
    13. Bacha Kebede Debela, 2022. "Inter-Organizational Bench-Learning to Respond to Climate Change and Reduce Trade-Offs in Urban Drinking Water Supply: The Case of Grade 2B Municipalities in Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopia," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, September.
    14. Goknur Sisman-Aydin & Kemal Simsek, 2022. "Municipal Wastewater Effects on the Performance of Nutrient Removal, and Lipid, Carbohydrate, and Protein Productivity of Blue-Green Algae Chroococcus turgidus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-17, December.
    15. Jalil, Hawzhin M. & Rezapour, Salar & Nouri, Amin & Joshi, Navneet, 2022. "Assessing the ecological and health implications of soil heavy metals in vegetable irrigated with wastewater in calcareous environments," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    16. Goknur Sisman-Aydin & Kemal Simsek, 2022. "Investigation of the Phycoremediation Potential of Freshwater Green Algae Golenkinia radiata for Municipal Wastewater," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-18, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iwt:jounls:h051830. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chandima Gunadasa (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iwmiclk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.