Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown on the Quality and Pollution of Irrigation Water in the Dams of Jordan

Abstract

While the world continues to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on public health and the economy, among other issues (e.g., the environment), water, as a major component of the environment, has been significantly affected. This research aims to examine the quality and pollution of irrigation water in six selected vital dams in Jordan, in terms of the Irrigation Water Quality Index (IWQI) and Irrigation Water Pollution Index (IWPI), respectively, in view of determining any changes in the water quality and pollution load between the COVID-19 lockdown and the pre-COVID-19 period. The results of this study revealed that all of the studied dams showed an improvement in the quality of irrigation water and a reduction in pollution levels during the COVID-19 lockdown. This was due to a decrease in industrial, anthropogenic, urban, and agricultural activities, and strict restrictions on mobility and transportation. The improvement percentage in the irrigation water quality during the lockdown based on the IWQI model was in the following order: King Talal dam > Al-Kafrein dam > Al-Wehdeh dam > Kufranja dam > Wadi Al-Arab dam > Zeqlab dam, which is similar to the order of the reduction percentage in pollution based on the IWPI model. Therefore, the results of the IWPI model are consistent with those of the IWQI model. The classification of irrigation water based on the IWQI values indicated that the irrigation water quality of Al-Wehdeh and King Talal dams changed to better categories during the lockdown. All values of physicochemical and biological parameters in the dams’ water were within the Jordanian and international (FAO) standard limits for irrigation, except for the Na concentrations in some dams that were above the FAO standards.