Participatory Optimization Scenario for Water Resources Management: A Case from Jordan

Participatory optimization scenario process was developed for water resources management of the Zarqa River Basin in Jordan. The basin was selected to represent a case study of semi-arid area in the Mediterranean because of its entire range of prototypical water management problems. The nature of the institutional framework, the severity of the water related problems and concentration of population in the basin have required the need for stakeholders’ involvement in the optimization process. The paper demonstrates a Water Resources Model (WRM) consisting of integrated cascade of modules, embedded in a framework of a participatory approach in water resources optimization. The system includes baseline scenario, identification of constrains and instruments, the optimization scenario and analysis of results. In a participatory approach, stakeholders identified the optimization criteria (constraints) and the management interventions (instruments). Constraints were set to securing high supply/demand ratio of 0.98 and improving reliability of supply to 75 %, while specific eight instruments were suggested and manipulated by the model to achieve the above criteria. The results of the WRM optimization scenario showed that the specified constraints were met so that the supply/demand ratio increased from 0.90 to 0.996 and the reliability of supply improved from 58 % to 84 %. The benefit/cost ratio, water shortfall, and the economic efficiency had responded effectively. The model proved its efficiency in using the full featured basin characteristics towards baseline and optimization scenarios with the support of stakeholders in simulating the basin behavior over time using the model parameters. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013