Large scale water theft adds to Jordan's scarcity woes

Water flows from a central pipe near the city of Madaba, south of Amman, in an aggression by farmers to irrigate their land.

AMMAN // For weeks now, a rubber hose fixed to a pierced hole in a mains pipe that feeds water to a number of villages about 40km south of Amman has been diverting much of the water away to a nearby farm. Most passers-by are oblivious of the hose, which is surrounded by a puddle where dribbles of water escape through a gap between the nozzle and the hole in the pipe.Others, instead of reporting a complaint to the water ministry, fill small containers from the run-off, drinking it or using it to wash their cars. Some shepherds herd their sheep there to drink from it.

This apparent act of water theft is a growing practice in Jordan, where thieves siphon off thousands of litres of government water each year to irrigate their farmlands and greenhouses. In one of the world's most water-scarce nations, 42 per cent of water is lost annually, and theft is partly to blame. Leakages and worn out pipes also play their part. Although it is difficult to measure how much water is stolen, officials say it is a major problem facing the country, interrupting water supplies and depriving citizens of their share of water.

"Water loss is not only due to problems in the grid but also because some consumers tamper with water meters and sell water in tanks," the minister of water, Mohammad Najjar, told reporters this month. In Amman alone, where three million people, or half of the population, live, water loss is estimated at 35 per cent, while in some parts of the kingdom it is as high as 65 per cent, official figures show.

Citizens' complaints about interrupted water supplies are not uncommon in a country suffering from a huge water shortage and poor management of what supplies exist. This shortage has been exacerbated by the arrival of 500,000-700,000 refugees from the 2003 Iraq war, an annual population growth of 2.3 per cent and massive infrastructure projects. Ground water depletion, according to The Economist, has cost Jordan 2.1 per cent of its gross domestic product in recent years - the highest level for any country in the Middle East and North Africa.

There have been efforts to rein in water loss, which has dropped in Amman in recent years to 35 per cent from 54 per cent in 1999, according to the state-run Jordan Water Company, or Miyahuna, which is in charge of managing the capital's water. But tackling water theft remains a daunting task. What complicates matters is that the law is soft on water theft: penalties include fines and the reduction of water supplies to offenders. Moreover, in a few instances, those trying to prevent theft were unable to carry out their job because they faced resistance from locals.

"Retired officers working with us went to a farm stealing water, but were held at gun point," one water ministry official said. Saad Abu Hammour, the acting executive director of Miyahuna, said the company receives about 700 complaints of water theft each month. "We lose 45 million cubic metres annually and in part it is because of water theft. Water loss is very costly. One per cent of water loss costs us between 600,000 dinars to 800,000 dinars [Dh3.1 million to Dh4.1m]," he said at a press conference this month. "Water theft ? has become technical and difficult to expose ? The [laws] in place do not help us deter thieves."

The government says it intends to clamp down on water theft. "There are continuous campaigns to crack down on any illegal consumption of water or any tampering with water metres," said Adnan Zoubi, a spokesman for the ministry of water. "We will enforce stricter measures that will include increasing fines on violators." But because so much of the theft occurs in rural areas, it is difficult to monitor.

"There is more water theft in the eastern parts of the kingdom where some farmers illegally drill water wells, taking advantage of lax government supervision," said Dureid Mahasneh, a water expert wh o used to work at the minstry. "And if the wells are licensed, they tamper with the meters and do not report the exact amounts of water consumed." [e-mail]