00:00We are in Jordan, where this river is more than just a border between Jordan and Israel.
00:06It symbolizes Jordan's struggle over water.
00:09The average Jordanian has access to just about 80 liters of water per day, which roughly
00:14amounts to about the half used in many developed countries.
00:18Climate change is also putting pressure on Jordan's water reserves, and water can become
00:23political.
00:24Jordan depends on Israel for water, so how does that translate into political leverage?
00:31Our report begins at the border between the two countries on the shores of the Dead Sea.
00:36Filming this close to the Jordan-Israel border is rare.
00:40The area is sensitive and access is restricted.
00:43These barbed wire fences were built back when Dead Sea levels reached this high.
00:48The water has since receded, leaving the fences on the Jordanian side far from the shoreline.
00:55Climate change is one factor, politics is another.
01:00The Jordan River feeds to Dead Sea, but only a fraction of its former flow makes it this
01:05far.
01:06Israel diverses significant water volume upstream.
01:11Jordan's capital is one of the most water-scarce cities in the world, home to millions.
01:16What strikes you most from the air?
01:19There is almost no green space and rooftop tanks everywhere.
01:25Here in Amman, these rooftop tanks are absolutely necessary.
01:29Most households store water in there because the municipal supply is delivered only once
01:34a week.
01:35Now population growth and rising demand have put pressure on water supplies for many decades,
01:40and climate change is only making things worse.
01:43Zakaria is a busy man.
01:45He refills this tank for a client whose municipal supply has run dry.
01:50It costs 30 Jordanian dinar, about 40 US dollars, to fill the tank in a country where the average
01:57monthly income is 700 US dollars.
02:03There are people we meet, families, they cannot afford the water we deliver to them.
02:11The hotter the summers, the more people request water.
02:18He says he sometimes gives water to families for free, out of solidarity, even though he too
02:24needs to make a living.
02:26One of his customers is already waiting.
02:29These rooftop tanks supply water to 18 people, but they're almost empty in a matter of days.
02:49He tells us the municipal water line does not reach his house.
02:53Jordan has faced water shortages for decades, the situation further aggravated by mismanagement
02:59and poor infrastructure.
03:02Water became a key component of the 1994 peace agreement with Israel.
03:07It agreed to supply Jordan with 50 million cubic meters of water annually.
03:12In 2021, Israel agreed to supply Jordan with an additional 50 million cubic meters a year from
03:19the Sea of Galilee, but let that deal elapse at the end of 2025.
03:25Orebren Tai says Israel deploys water policy as a method of blackmailing Jordan to end its
03:31criticism of the Gaza war and what he describes as anti-Palestinian policies.
03:36What's going on in West Bank now, demolishing the camps on Erwa, making the life of 3 million
03:43Palestinians in West Bank miserable.
03:46They don't want Jordan to criticize these policies.
03:50Wapenizing this issue is a very alarming, a very telling story.
03:56The Israeli water authorities confirmed to DW that the 2021 agreement is currently not in
04:03effect but did not explain why.
04:06Farmers like Nur al-Din feel the impact of both climate change and politics.
04:11There's not enough water.
04:14The soil is dead.
04:15Heart is stone.
04:17It's thirsty.
04:20He tells us he simply cannot afford to buy more water.
04:24In the last decade, he's had to scale back the amount of land he works in central Jordan
04:28from 30 hectares to just three.
04:39He says water has always been a source of tension amid the region's geopolitical uncertainties.
04:46The only way forward, he argues, is for Jordan to diversify its water sources.
04:52Jordan and Israel are in a confrontational track, not co-operational track.
04:58Around West Bank, the Palestinian state, holy shrines, Hashemite custodianship, greater
05:04Israel, when you see that this is the future, futuristic scenario, you should prepare yourself
05:13enough, you shouldn't be dependent, especially in a strategic sector like water and energy
05:19on Israel.
05:20This is a must.
05:22Nur al-Din switched to water-safing okra, but fears if too many farmers follow suit, the
05:29market could be flooded.
05:30At the time, Jordan's water crisis shows no signs of easing.
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