WANA Hosts Roundtable Discussion on Water Resource Decoupling

Last week WANA hosted a roundtable interview session with policy officials involved in the field of water. This covered topics including water allocation and productivity and pricing, and challenges of managing water demand across competing sectors. Participants reflected on secondary data collected by WANA since April on inter-sectoral water use and the potential to decouple economic and population growth from water use.

Water resource decoupling can be considered a powerful avenue for Jordan to enhance its economy and water security within the bounds of its limited internal natural water supply. WANA is currently engaged, in conjunction with Oxford University and other regional partners, in a British Council funded project entitled ‘Delivering Food and Water Security in a Middle East in flux’ (DeFWS). The project is working to understand how Jordan has historically decoupled its water use from growth to date, and where avenues exist to further accelerate these trends, particularly through agricultural efficiency enabling shifts of water to higher value economic activities. This research project could hugely benefit Jordan and the greater WANA region, as water is a resource that has and will continue to be a regional challenge.