By Hana Namrouqa – Jun 23,2016 AMMAN — Environmental campaigners are collecting signatures for a petition to stop plans to establish Jordan’s first power plant to run on coal. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources “slammed the country’s laws against the wall” when it announced plans to build the coal-fuelled power plant without conducting […]

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Al-Masry Al-Youm The Red Sea resort town of Hurghada continued to be plagued by crude oil spills on Tuesday, amid claims from marine environment protection groups that officials had not done enough to prevent pollution in the area. The Environment Ministry, meanwhile, has laid the blame the feet of an unnamed oil company for allowing […]

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By Hana Namrouqa – Jun 28,2016 AMMAN — Work is under way to deliver new technology to companies in the cooling and thermal insulation sector to make their work more environmentally friendly, a senior government official said on Monday. A total of 100 companies operating in the sector will benefit from the $6 million (JD4.25 […]

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AMMAN — A new water and sewage network has been installed at the Jerash camp for Palestinian refugees, funded by the Swiss government, the Swiss embassy in Amman said in a statement released this week. “We are all proud today to have contributed to the enhanced dignity of the inhabitants of Jerash, who can now […]

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By Hana Namrouqa – Jun 26,2016 AMMAN — Authorities have dismantled around 23,000 illegal fixtures on water mains and resources since a national campaign to end water violations was launched in 2013, an official said on Sunday. “More than 22,976 violations have been dealt with since the campaign began three years ago,” according to a […]

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The effects of climate change have arrived sooner than expected, with the Sea of Galilee set to hit warning ‘lower red line’ by September. By Noa Shpigel and Zafrir Rinat Jun 27, 2016 The water shortage in northern Israel is the worst in 100 years, according to new data from the Water Authority. The data […]

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Chickens and gardens in Salfit die of dehydration, and factories are shut down in an effort to conserve water; ‘We woke up one morning to an empty reservoir,’ the mayor says. ‘Had we known ahead of time that the water would be cut off, we would have stocked up.’ Amira Hass Jun 26, 2016 “I […]

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Due to new earthen work dams being constructed to give farmers in the north access to water, flow rates in the Jordan River have decreased significantly; Flow rates exacerbated by lack of a pipe to enable water to run under one of the dams Amir Ben David|Last update: 25.06.16 Farmers in the north have relied […]

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Water has been cut to Palestinian and Israeli towns and villages all across the West Bank, sparking an uproar amongst the population; Palestinian officials blame the Israelis for cutting off their water, while Israeli officials blame poor Palestinian management of water infrastructure. Associated Press|Published: 28.06.16 As Palestinians in the West Bank fast from dawn to […]

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HAARETZ – Israel Admits Cutting West Bank Water Supply, but Blames Palestinian Authority Israel says region’s intense heatwave combined with Palestinian Water Authority’s refusal to approve additional infrastructure had led to ‘old and limited pipes being unable to transfer all the water needed.’ Amira Hass Jun 21, 2016 Since the start of this month, tens […]

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June 14, 2016 GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Top officials from the United Nations and the European Union traveled to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday to visit a seawater desalination plant under construction in the besieged coastal enclave. EU Commissioner of European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn visited the EU-funded plant located in the […]

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By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN 06/22/2016 Israel Water Authority: The need for an additional desalination plant came about as natural freshwater sources in Northern Israel have been drying up. A plan to build a desalination plant in northern Israel has drawn the ire of local residents and legislators as well. However, an official from the Israel […]

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By Hana Namrouqa – Jun 16,2016 AMMAN — Construction on the JD4 million Wadat Dam in Tafileh Governorate will begin in August to collect rainwater for agricultural purposes, officials said on Wednesday. “The dam will be 150 cubic metres long and 27 metres high… It will be ready within 18 months after construction commences in […]

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The salinity of the Sea of Galilee’s water is on the rise, which could affect both drinking water and water used in agriculture. What’s the solution? Asaf Ben Neriah, 18.06.16 The last few dry winters northern Israel has experienced are taking their toll on the Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee), with the salt levels in […]

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AFP, United Nations, United States Friday, 17 June 2016 The Palestinians have begun talks with Egypt on setting out the maritime borders of their hoped for future state and the resources they can extract from the sea, their UN ambassador to the United Nations said Friday. The goal is to establish an exclusive economic zone […]

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MALKA GROSSMAN 06/22/2016 The Environmental Protection Ministry on Wednesday provided an update on the plan to relocate Haifa’s 17,000-ton ammonia production and storage facility. Director-general Yisrael Dancziger, speaking in the northern city, said the ministry is in the final stages of accepting bids on the tender to build a replacement ammonia production facility in Mishor […]

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By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN 06/14/2016 Environmental groups have often voiced their concerns that petroleum in the region was likely “tight oil,” which could require non-conventional drilling procedures such as hydraulic fracturing. It’s common to hear about the environmental impact of oil drilling, especially the kind that requires hydraulic fracturing – commonly called fracking – but […]

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Report: Petroleum Authority Says Lebanon’s Southern Oil Fields are ‘Promising’ Lebanon’s oil exploration file is back to the forefront after it was shadowed by the overall paralysis governing the country, at a time when Israel is about to start its oil production which threatens to syphon off Lebanon’s oil and gas where the fields overlap. […]

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Jun 11,2016 Mohammad Najjar The Jordanian economy has been, and will continue to be in the foreseeable future, dependent on foreign aid, particularly from Gulf countries and the United States. Recent signs that grants from Gulf countries will diminish constitute a major concern for policymakers in the Kingdom and raise doubts as to whether the […]

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By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN 06/08/2016 Every day Dead Sea area residents witness the lake level subside through evaporation in the torrid summer heat; the Sea is dropping by 1.2 meters annually. The plan to desalinate water from the Gulf of Aqaba, pump the sweet water to parched Amman, and pour the brine into the Dead […]

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