Agriculture & Environment Review;Groundwater from the Amman Zarqa Basin (AZB) is an important and valuable natural
resource. Water from the Basin is being seriously over-abstracted. Consequently, the water
table is dropping and water quality is declining. This threatens the durability of one of the
principal sources of M&I supply for the Amman area, and is thus of strategic importance to
Jordan. Irrigation, which is generally thought to be a relatively low-value use, accounts for
about half of current abstraction.