A Royal panel tasked with formulating a new JD5.86 billion water strategy on Tuesday presented its final report to His Majesty King Abdullah, who gave the go-ahead for the implementation of the plan.

The strategy entails a series of water mega projects to meet the Kingdom's needs.

Chairing a meeting of the Royal Water Committee, the King underlined the urgency of accelerating the implementation of vital projects listed in the plan.

King Abdullah tasked His Royal Highness Prince Feisal, the panel's chairperson, and committee members with proposing solutions to any challenges that hamper the implementation of the strategy in the future.

The strategy, which spans until 2022, seeks to achieve a set of objectives, including the provision of sufficient and safe drinking water, maximising the benefits of surface water and ending the arbitrary pumping from underground wells, among other things.

According to the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, the per capita water share in Jordan is estimated at 145 cubic metres annually, while the international water poverty line is 1,000 cubic metres per capita annually.

Prime Minister Nader Dahabi said the government would endeavour to implement the strategy, emphasising the government's keenness to execute another mega project - the Disi Water Conveyance Project - as soon as possible.

The premier also highlighted the ongoing World Bank-funded environmental impact and feasibility studies of the Red-Dead Canal scheme.

Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abu Saud said the strategy entails reducing reliance on underground water from 32 per cent currently to 17 per cent by 2022 and a parallel increase in the use of treated wastewater in agriculture from 10 per cent to 13 per cent. Dependence on water desalination projects will grow from 1 per cent presently to 31 per cent in 2022.

The plan cites a water deficit of 638 million cubic metres in 2007. The minister said better water management is the answer to this problem. Even when the Disi project is fully implemented, he told the meeting, the deficit will be about 503 million cubic metres in 2022. These figures highlight the urgency of pursuing desalination projects under the Red-Dead project, he said.

The plan also entails reducing the percentage of water loss, the minister said, adding that the total cost of the strategy includes the government's contribution to projects implemented by the private sector.

Abu Saud said the project's implementation requires effective institutional reforms and using water resources competently. Institutional reforms of the water sector require enacting a new water law, separating operational from administrative work, and production from distribution operations, activating the role of the Water Council and creating a commission to regulate the sector, said the minister.

Such reforms, he added, also require establishing a court for water issues and increasing reliance on ICT in the management of the sector.