Syria agrees to end violations to Yarmouk water sharing deal

AMMAN (JT) - Jordan and Syria agreed Sunday to install devices at the Yarmouk River to measure the quantity of water in the river to ensure that previous deals on water sharing are respected.

At the conclusion of the meetings on Sunday of the Jordanian-Syrian Committee of the Yarmouk River Basin, the two sides also agreed to give priority to saving water from the river in the Wihdeh Dam, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The dam is a joint project between the two countries.

Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abu Saud was quoted by Petra as saying it was also agreed to remove agricultural development projects on the Syrian side of the river, which weaken water flow into the dam, to slow the depletion of the river.

Under agreements signed between the two countries, Syria's share of water from the Wihdeh Dam is six million cubic metres (mcm) for agricultural purposes, provided that the dam reaches its full capacity of 110mcm. The quota decreases proportionately in accordance with the volume of storage.

But for the first time since its construction three years ago, the dam held only 18mcm by April, and thus Syria's share declined to 1mcm. The neighboring country, however, has been pumping more than its allocated share to water vegetables planted all the way from downstream of Wihdeh Dam to Al Raqqad Valley on the banks of the Yarmouk River.

Technical committees from both sides will conduct field visits to the river to check on the implementation of the agreement, according to the minister.

The two sides, he said, are also due to conduct a comprehensive study on the Yarmouk Basin to preserve its water and stop its depletion, adding that the study will not contradict the agreement the two countries signed in 1987.

The Yarmouk River is a tributary of the Jordan River, originating in the southeastern slopes of Mount Hermon and forming a boundary between Syria and Jordan for almost 40 kilometres before becoming the border between the Kingdom and Israel.

Also Sunday, Prime Minister Nader Dahabi instructed Minister of Industry and Trade Amer Hadidi and Minister of Transport Sahel Majali to pay a visit to the home of Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri's house to check on his health, Petra reported.

The two ministers were in Damascus to participate in the preparatory meetings of the Joint Jordanian-Syrian Higher Committee.

The two sides agreed to postpone the higher committee meetings for a second time Thursday during a phone call between Dahabi and Otri, who is recovering from a "successful surgery".

During the meetings, Jordan and Syria will look into signing 13 agreements and memoranda of understanding in various fields.