Water resources evaluation of aquifers in the lower Jordan Rift Valley

This paper presents some results of the German, Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian (GIJP) Joint Research project for Water resources evaluation and sustainable utilization of Aquifers in the Jordan Rift Valley funded by the German Ministry for Science and Technology (BMBF) with cooperation of the Israeli Ministry of Science (MOS) and the Jordanian Ministry for Water and Irrigation (MWI). Several German Universities and research centres and several universities and research centres from Jordan, Israel and Palestine worked together in the frame of this project. The main aquifers in the Jordan Rift Valley were investigated within this research program. The new results concerning the water quality and quantity were presented in a special session of the International Conference on the Geology of East Mediterranean in Thessaloniki, Greece, April 2004. This results in this paper are dealing with ground water hydrochemistry. hydraulic tests. water and environment protections and vulnerability studies in wadis in the study areas. A new approach dealing with water salinity in the Jordan Rift Valley was achieved. Ground water flow models for some chosen areas in the Jordan Rift Valley were calculated. Special studies in the areas of Jericho, Wadi Quilt, Ein Feaschka and Fazail on the western side of the Jordan and Dead Sea shore were undertaken. Other studies were conducted in the area of Wadi Schouib, Wadi Al Kafrein, Karama, Sweimah and the Zarqa Main thermal waters on the eastern side of the Jordan River and Dead Sea shore. The problem of lowering the Dead Sea water level and its impact on the environment and water resources in the surrounding of the Dead Sea were intensively studied. Proposals to improve water resources quality and a sustainable ground water management in the Jordan Rift basin were recommended (see. Conference on the Geology of East Mediterranean, Thessaloniki, Greece, April 2004).