Every winter season, as low-pressure systems approach, we are reminded of the floods, blocked roads, sudden torrents, and closed culverts. In Jordan, we have come to consider it as an unavoidable fate, seeing what happened as an exceptional circumstance and not as an indicator of a flaw in the handling and management of rainwater and the absence of an active role by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, as a central and leading entity responsible for water resources and its planning. Afterwards, news channels share interviews with officials and their advice on how to deal with the depressions, to avoid valleys and torrents, declaring a state of emergency and readiness for the depression, about the state of dams and their capacity, and that the rainy season promises well despite the results and losses incurred during the depression and poor management of the weather conditions.
And here come the questions we need to pay attention to:
Are rain and the resulting floods a problem, an emergency, or a strategic national opportunity that should be utilized?
Is our management of rainwater correct, or are we just looking at the rainfall amounts?
Is there a difference between the aspirations and what is implemented by the officials on the ground?
Jordan is among the countries poorest in water resources, and yet we waste a national opportunity annually due to poor management of rainwater, which runs off the surface. The lack of a coordinating role that should be led by the Ministry of Water working collaboratively with municipalities and urban planning, neglecting decentralized urban solutions and the weak application of rainwater harvesting techniques within cities in an appropriate manner, and the failure of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation to take responsibility for managing the rainwater resource. Thus, in Jordan, we are looking for ways and methods to dispose of rainwater as quickly as possible within the cities, focusing on the millimeters of rainfall and the amount of water entering the dams, ignoring the importance of the amount of water that goes to groundwater and the amount that went into pollution channels and sewage systems.
Regarding the second question... related to the management of rainwater and the accompanying floods, it is not possible for us to invest in them due to weak proper management and absence of urban planning. Although sustainable cities primarily rely on utilizing heavy rainwater and keeping it within the urban system of the city as a productive element, through the introduction and application of techniques that conserve those quantities of rainwater represented by creating rain gardens, blue infrastructure, green roofs, and permeable sidewalks. These solutions and technologies used within sustainable cities not only reduce the occurrence of floods but also enhance and replenish groundwater. Despite all this, these solutions used are not considered theoretical ideas but are scientific tools that have proven successful, and therefore, the application of laws, regulations, and government legislations and providing financial incentives for every new build in exchange for constructing a rainwater collecting well, which can be linked to achieving the sixth and eleventh goals of the sustainable development goals, and contributes to reducing surface runoff.
Regarding the answer to the third, most sensitive question. When reviewing national strategies, you find it filled with advanced and sustainable scientific themes, but when you look at the results, they are fragmented and incomplete.
In conclusion, the depressions, rainwater, and the accompanying floods remain a national crisis that we are unable to deal with annually, considering it as an exceptional circumstance and not a deficiency in managing the water file.
