Jordan’s Water and Irrigation Ministry has invited companies to bid for a contract to provide monitoring systems for a groundwater management project at the AWSA well fields in Azraq.

Companies have until 7 October to submit proposals for the contract. The work will involve providing and implementing real-time and high-temporal monitoring systems for the AWSA well field.

The AWSA well field is located in the Azraq area of the Zarqa govenorate, which is 85km southeast of Amman.

The project is part of Jordan’s efforts to protect available water resources from pollution. The country’s water resources are scarce and the significant increase in groundwater development due to a sharp growth in population and agricultural activity has led to a decline in groundwater reserves over the past 20 years.

The AWSA project is one of several groundwater schemes Jordan is pushing ahead with, as it seeks to explore new groundwater wells and protect existing resources. In July, the Water and Irrigation Ministry invited consultants to submit bids for the contract to carry out a feasibility study for a groundwater project in the Dead Sea basin.

The consultancy contract is the second contract the ministry has tendered for the Dead Sea groundwater basin project in recent months. In May, the ministry invited companies to submit bids for the contract to provide a groundwater-flow model of the Dead Sea basin. The project is part of the Jordan Deep Aquifers modelling project.

Jordan’s per capita water availability is 145 cubic metres a year, which is just 15 per cent of the internationally recognised water poverty level. Some regions suffer more than others. Jerash, which is located north of the capital, receives only 71 litres a day for each person, while Ma’an in the south has access to 230 litres a person a day.