Minister of Water and Irrigation Motasem Saidan has checked on drinking and irrigation water resources at the Yarmouk River and the northern and central parts of the Jor-dan Valley, according to a ministry statement.

The minister, accompanied by officials from the ministry, re-viewed efforts undertaken by the Jordan Valley Authority in securing irrigation and drinking water and checked on a num-ber of dams.

Saidan called on stakeholders to continue providing farmers with "fair” amounts of water to help offer quality agricultural produce for the local market, especially during the pandemic crisis.

"The government gives high priority to developing and in-creasing the capacity of water resources, which requires a re-sponsible response in dealing with the water reality in the Kingdom to meet the increasing water needs,” the minister said.

He stressed the need to pay special attention to the use, distri-bution and protection of "all sources and each drop of water”, to fairly secure the needs of all sectors whether for drinking, irrigation, industry or for other uses.

Saidan listened to a briefing on the procedures and prepara-tions that the Jordan Valley Authority follows in all water fa-cilities through its field tours to a number of locations, in-cluding Al Wehda Dam, the Yarmouk River and Adasiya Di-version Dam on the Yarmouk River, the statement added.

The minister was also briefed on the emergency plan for deal-ing with floods and the water flow monitoring in the King Abdullah Canal. 

Accompanying the minister, Acting Secretary General of the Jordan Valley Authority Hisham Al Hisa said: "The authority would continue its work to facilitate and secure farmers with all water needs, gearing towards developing Jordan’s agricul-tural environment and the national economy.”

Adnan Khadam, head of the Jordan Valley Farmers Union, told The Jordan Times on Saturday that "the use and distribu-tion of water play a vital role in the development of sustaina-ble water management in Jordan”.

He added that to keep agriculture efficient, major challenges such as old water infrastructure, should be revamped as "age-ing water systems have a significant impact on the distribu-tion of water”.

"We appreciate the efforts of the ministry, but the water in-frastructure in the Jordan Valley needs to be maintained and rehabilitated,” Khadam said