The Jordanian Minister of Water and Irrigation, Ra'ad Abu al-Saud, said in an interview published today that the kingdom suffers from an increasingly severe water deficit of about 400 million cubic meters every year, as a result of a decrease in water sources, which will lead to an increase in water rates for the consumer.
 
According to him, the total water available from all sources is estimated at about 1,115 million cubic meters, including about 510 million cubic meters for urban uses, 570 million cubic meters for agricultural uses and about 35 million cubic meters for industrial consumption. The demand for water has increased significantly in recent years as a result of the increase in Jordan's population to 11.3 million people, but this has not been accompanied by the development of sufficient water sources.
 
The Jordanian minister noted that they are looking for solutions to the plight. One of them is the "national carrier" ie desalination of water in Aqaba in the Red Sea and transporting it by pipeline to the rest of the kingdom. Another suggested solution is digging new water wells.
 
The minister did not mention Israel in the entire long interview and the fact that Jordan refused to sign an agreement funded by the Emirates to transport electricity to Israel in exchange for desalinated water.