The Jordan River Basin report, by Floris van Dongen
Characteristics
Area:
total: 89,213 sq km
land: 88,884 sq km
water: 329 sq km
Land boundaries: 1,619 km
Climate: mostly arid desert; rainy season in west (November to April)
Terrain: mostly desert plateau in east, highland area in west; Great Rift Valley separates East and West Banks of the Jordan River
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Jabal Ram 1,734 m
Natural resources: phosphates, potash, and shale oil
Land use: arable land: 4%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 9%
forests and woodland: 1%
other: 85% (1993 est.)
Environment - current issues:
Limited natural fresh water resources; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Abstract
The most river basins in the world have a problem but the river basin of the Jordan River has a big problem. This because the Jordan River lies in a area (the Middle East) where is not much water supply but there is a lot of demand. Also by the climate is there so less water and arise the problems. Because the Jordan flows trough different countries there are a lot off conflicts between the surrounding countries. These conflicts are there since ancient times and that’s not strange if you know that there now still fights are going on. The United States and the western European countries most even help with mediating between the countries or else there will be a war going on.
The Jordan River Basin
The Middle East lies in a transitional zone between equatorial and mid latitude climates. Because of general atmospheric circulation patterns, a characteristic of these latitudes is the prevalence of aridity. Scarcely any precipitation occurs during the summer months, average temperatures being at over 30° C and up to 50°C in some zones. In winter the jet stream moves southward, reducing the temperatures somewhat and bringing small amounts of precipitation up to North Africa\\'s coasts. In all, annual precipitation remains low. In most areas of the Middle East rainfall lies under the agronomic aridity limit of 200 mm/year, and evaporation exceeds rainfall for most parts of the year.
In some areas aridity is tempered by westerly winds, which move moist air masses from the Mediterranean and the Black Sea onto the land. These provoke orographic precipitations along the northwestern coast, which therefore has a Mediterranean climate, and on mountainous areas in the interior. The Taurus, Anti-Taurus, and Pontic Mountains in eastern Turkey benefit from these precipitations, as do the Elzburg and Zagros Mountains on the border between Iran and Iraq, the Jebel Alawi in Syria, the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains in the country sharing their name, and the hills of the West Bank and northern Jordan. Here precipitations reach amounts large enough to ensure a positive water balance, or, to put it in other words, a \\'water surplus\\'. These are the recharge areas of the region\\'s few fresh water supplies, which, depending on quantity, geomorphology and soil structure, collect in surface streams or percolate into underground aquifers.
Rivers are not always lying between the borders of one country. Often the River Basins are crossing the country borders because water flows from the highest too the lowest point of the land. The Jordan River Basin crosses the borders of Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Jordan. This causes a lot of problems between the countries.
The users of the Jordan water are the surrounding countries, that is the main problem in the Middle East conflicts. The countries don’t know how to divide the water if they even want to divide it. All countries want to keep the water for them selves, that’s why there are so many conflicts. Water is used by different aims, but the main aim is for house holdings (without water you can’t life). Other aims are for the growing industry, irrigation areas, tourism and the adaptations of the western lifestyle.
In spite of that there is a water shortage the users do not know how to handle with the water. They are polluting it with their own waste materials so that there is less water to use for them, and the problems become bigger and bigger.
The problems can’t be solved in a short period. There is the problem too big for. The surrounding countries most know how to treat the water well so that they don’t pollute it anymore. In front of this the inhabitants most to fit on their lifestyle and that’s something you can’t do from one time to the other. The pollution that is in the water yet can’t also be solved in a short period. This because the pollution has infiltrated in the groundwater and before that is out, a long period will be gone. There is thus not only a quantity but also a quality water problem in the Middle East.
To solve the water problems in the Middle East it costs a lot of time from many involved countries.
If you want to look for yourself about the water crisis in the Middle East you can look on the following sites on the Internet:
http://www4.gve.ch/gci/water/gcwater/jordan.html - From this site you can find general information about the Jordan River.
http://www.american.edu/projects/mandala/TED/ice/JORDAN.HTM - About background information off the River Basin.
http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/100/places/jordan.html - The origin and a part of the history of the Jordan River.
http://www.bowdoin.edu/dept/clas/arch201/seleucid2/a.banias.html - Some photo’s of the river. Further is this a religious site.
http://www.fsk.ethz.ch/enco/htm - The conflicts of the Jordan River Basin.
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/2/0,5716,44992+1+43979,00.html - From this site you can find general information about the Jordan River.
http://www.beinpictures.com/Israel/pages/05%20Jordan%20River.htm - Some photo’s of the Jordan River and seas/lakes.
http://www.cumber.edu/acad/rel/hbible/HebrewBible/hbphotos/jordan.htm - Maps and photo’s of the hole environment.
http://israeliculture.about.com/culture/israeliculture/library/weekly/aa030600a.htm - Some general information of the countries, culture and society.
http://school.discovery.com/homeworkhelp/worldbook/atozgeography/j/710637.html - General information of the Jordan River.
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