Partner 7. Water and Environment Research and Study Center (WERSC), University of Jordan, Jordan.

The Water and Environmental Research and Study Center is an independent research unit at the University of Jordan. It is considered the research center for the Ministry of Water and irrigation and other public and private agencies. Research activities at national and regional level are carried out. The center has long experience in irrigation management, reuse of water, hydrology, water conservation in arid areas, water harvesting and artificial recharge. The center has been involved in some studies funded by EEC, USAID, UNDP, and CIDA:

-      EEC project (AVI-CT94-0009) about using low cost technology for waste treatment

-      EEC project (AVI-CT94-0012) about using solar energy for purification of waste water

-      EEC project (AVI-CT93-0091) about rainfall forecasting and irrigation management

-      UNDP project (JOR/92/G3/D/IG/99) about water conservation in arid areas

-      USAID project (398-0289) irrigation water management in the Jordan Valley

-      CIDA project about using aquatic weeds for purification of waste water

-      French support for a project on water conservation in agriculture

-      Higher council for research project on integrated management of arid land watershed

-      IDRC project on water harvesting modelling and simulation.

Leader of the WERSC team will  be Dr. Muhammad R. Shatanawi: Director of Water and Environmental Research and study Center, Professor in Hydraulics and water resources. As a director, he coordinates research in water management and conservation. He carries research in water policy, drought management, irrigation management, arid land hydrology and water harvesting. He worked as FAO expert in NWCZ Egypt in water conservation and harvesting. He has many papers in water policy, drought management and irrigation and water conservation.

Selected papers:

·       Drought in Jordan and its effects and mitigation measures, The Disaster Management Workshop, UNDP, Amman, April, 1993.

·       Evaluating Market Oriented Water Policies in Jordan. A Comparative study. Water International, Vol. 20, No 2, June, 1995, pp. 88-96.

·       Potential for water harvesting in Jordan: Present situation and future needs. A paper presented at the International Conference on land and water, resources management in the Mediterranean region, Vol. III, Valenzano Bari, Italy, September 4-8, 1994.

·       Analysis of future water policies in Jordan. Water Resources development, Vol. II, No. 3, 1995, pp. 315.330.

Dr. Suleiman Arabiat: Professor in Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Jordan. His main research area is in sustainable agriculture, projects formulation and assessment.

Dr. Odeh Al-Jayyousi: Assistant Professor in Water resources Planning, Civil Engineering Department, Applied Science University. He carries out research on water policy analysis using decision theory and game theory. His research interests are on water allocations, water rights and multicriteria analysis of water strategies.

Dr. Adnan As-Salihi: Assistant Professor in Hydraulic Structure and Dam Engineering, Civil Engineer Department, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jordan. Wide experience in hydraulic studies and water resources. Dam designer and hydraulic structures expert. "Models of Dam-Break Flow in R. T. space", ASCE, May 1989. "Effects of partial lining of channel corners on seepage asses", Dirasat, Univ. of Jordan, 1996. "Middle East Regional Study on Water Supply and Demand Development", Member in the Jordanian team, 1995/1996, GTZ. "Hydrological Study of Wadi Araba", Wadi Araba development project, final report 1995, April.

Dr. Taleb Abu-Sharar: Professor in Soil and Water Chemistry, Soil and Irrigation Department, University of Jordan. He carries research in the areas of irrigation water quality, management of irrigated arid zone soils, crop salt tolerance and sewage sludge and hazardous waste management.