Sustainable Community Water Project Implementation in Jordan

Abstract

From 1998 to 2004 the authors participated in a water management project in the central Jordan Valley focused on community participation in the design and installation of an integrated zero effluent septage treatment facility and farming operation. This chapter begins with a summary of the water management context in Jordan and internationally. The participatory methodology employed in the project, including I. Al Baz et al. (eds.), Efficient Management of Wastewater. 269 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2008 Noel Keough Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary. nkeough@ucalgary.ca 270 S. Smirat et al. the sustainable community model guiding the project, is outlined and the major activities associated with the project and the community outcomes achieved, are discussed. Finally, the lessons learned, including participation in project design, management and facility ownership and operation; water privatization, pricing and valuation; women and water, cultural versus technical approaches to water management and the role of the professional in community water management are discussed. Our experience suggests the need to adopt a new paradigm in water management whereby all actors— engineers and technicians, community process facilitators, local authorities, other levels of government and the community—work in partnership. To date, decentralization has focused on the technical requirements and economic advantages of decentralized technologies. This project highlights the equally important cultural, social and political dimensions of successful water management decentralization.