About Us

Water gives life and every life is made of water. Every human being should have access to safe water for drinking, appropriate sanitation and enough food and energy. With the increase of population the amount of fresh water is becoming scarce throughout the world. About a billion people face water shortages in the world today and this figure is expected to double in the next twenty-five years. In the face of such challenge, provision of adequate water to meet the basic human needs must be made in an equitable manner that works in harmony with nature. Water must, therefore, be managed and used in the most appropriate manner in both quantitative and qualitative terms without jeopardizing the interest of any member of the society and the nature as well. The Inter-Islamic Network on Water Resources Development and Management (INWRDAM) like all other International Organizations dealing with water, attaches utmost importance to efficient and effective development and management of water resources.

Dr Alraggad is an expert in advanced water management aspects focusing on water use modeling and management with applied research experience in the domain of water management and research for development. He is an expert/specialist in hydrological, topological modeling and water management, as well as in geographic information systems. He furthermore possesses solid and applied experience in groundwater investigations, monitoring and management as well as excellent field and in class training capacity skills. With more than 13 years of research and applied activities  in hydrological, topological modelling and water management he is highly experienced and has published several scientific papers, such as “Water Resources of Jordan: Political, Social and Economic Implications of Scarce Water Resources” (Springer International Publishing, 2018). He has solid consultancy experience working at the Ministry of Water and on USAID projects.  He has led the USAID funded project MAR TWW during 2012 – 2015 in partnership with Oman and USA which aimed to maximize the benefit of excess surface water flows for Managed Aquifer Recharge. Most recently he led 5 international projects in the domain sustainable management of water resources with a special focus on treated waste water reuse to increase agricultural productivity.

Marwan Alraggad CV

Our Mission

INWRDAM is a non-profit autonomous body having international legal status established 1987. The headquarters of INWRDAM is located in Amman and hosted by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. As a think tank it focuses on policy and applied research and conducts dialogues – through which it seeks to advance ideas, concepts and policy direction to inform policy making and programme formulation processes towards shaping the contours of water resources development and management

The mission of INWRDAM is to foster closer cooperation among the member countries and MENA region in the field of development and management of water resources. In pursuit of this mission, it seeks to generate ideas and policy directions through intensive dialogue, studies and research on a continuing basis. The primary objectives of INWRDAM are as follows: • to collaborate and cooperate in the areas of common interest with a view to help each other in building up the national capability of its member countries in the field of integrated water resources development and to reach smart economy; • to exchange knowledge and information, share experiences and maintain continuing dialogue related to water resources development and management; • to set up and maintain a data bank relating to water resources development and management for use of its member countries taking into account national interests of the member countries; • to initiate demand driven and need based joint projects of research and development (R&D) and help its member countries in the training of quality manpower and render consultancy and advisory services for water resources development and management; • to create innovative solution for water management • to maintain liaison and develop partnership with other similar organizations of the world.

Our Vision

INWRDAM envisions:

1. To make its mark in the global arena as lead water management organization and make meaningful contributions in all important regional and global deliberations on water resources development and management;
2. To establish and maintain an effective network of communication amongst the member countries, MENA region and international community for dissemination and sharing of knowledge on water management between individuals, institutions, agencies and societies at all appropriate levels;
3. To help further advance the process of collaboration among countries in order to translate agreed water management principles into action with partnerships and synergies among the government, citizens and other stakeholders;
4. To work closely with the multilateral institutions, particularly the UN system to strengthen water-related policies and programs that enhance water security and to assist member countries, to the extent possible, to address the major challenges in the water sector;
5. To help policy makers, organizations, individuals appreciate that: • Water is the basis for all living ecosystems and habitats and part of an immutable hydrological cycle that must be respected if the development of human activity and wellbeing is to be sustainable:

• Fresh water, a basic human need, is becoming increasingly scarce and needs to be managed efficiently for the sake of all.
• A holistic, systematic approach relying on integrated water resources management must replace the current fragmentation in managing water. This should take account of social, economic and environmental factors and integrate surface water, groundwater and the ecosystems through which they flow.
• For meaningful water management special attention should be paid to the poor, to the role, skills and needs of women and to vulnerable areas such as island States, landlocked countries and desertified areas.
• Effective management of water could become a vehicle for collaboration as much as its absence could be a source of conflict, focusing on conflict resolution.
• Quantity and quality aspects of groundwater management will be as crucial as surface water management in the years ahead.
• Integrated water resources management depends on collaboration and partnerships at all levels, based on a political commitment to,   and wider societal awareness of the need for water security and the sustainable management of water resources.
• Promotion of peaceful co-operation and development of synergies between different uses of water at all levels, whenever possible, within and in the case of boundary and trans-boundary water resources between countries concerned, through sustainable river basin or aquifer management or other appropriate measures which are essential to provide security from floods, droughts, pollution and other   water related hazards.

WISE

WISE vision:

The WISE vision is one core programme/component of INWRDAM. It is important to emphasize, that the WISE vision is an on-going initiative and in contrast to a typical project not restricted or defined by project boundaries. Hence, the WISE vision is far beyond a normal, commonly known project. The WISE vision focuses on water innovations and water related solutions to establish circular and more sustainable economies across the Globe. At first sight this description might sound a little bit too general, but considering the full geographical size and significance represented by the numerous INWRDAM-network partners, it is as fitting as it must be. The scope of the WISE-vision reaches out to circular economy and alternative business models, as well as sustainable rural development and urban infrastructure approaches.

To Read More

WISE Project

Smartphones and tablets have proven invaluable as a source of knowledge and information exchange. With the increasing number of smartphone users, more competition in the market led to affordable prices. Adding the value of low cost 4G service in Jordan we can consider smartphones as a tool for educating farmers on crop water requirements CWR calculations and irrigation scheduling in the Jordan Valley.

WISE (Water and Irrigation for Sustainable Economy) is a smart solution to reduce agricultural pumping is a simple and handy smartphone application

WISE is able to calculate daily CWRs and irrigation schemes based on climatic data generated by weather stations in the area. Farmers just need to define crop types and total farm area for the application to provide irrigation water quantity needed and further irrigation planning.

The application automatically recognize the coordinates of the farm and connect the most reliable stations for calculations.

Irrigation champions

The overall objective of this initiative is to improve the water use efficiency at farm level in the Jordan valley. Increasing the water use efficiency will result in (1) higher yields , (2) better quality products, (3) less energy consumption due to decreased pumping activities, and ultimately (4) better incomes for the farmers. This project is based on improving the know-how of the participating farmers in terms of best on-farm irrigation and climate smart agricultural practices that will be provided through a well-trained team of “Irrigation Champions”.

PURATREAT

The Mediterranean basin is one of the poorest regions in the world in terms of water resources. An increased water consumption rate for irrigation purposes along with a high urban population growth, have had an adverse effect on water resources. Thus most groundwater resources in the Mediterranean area are at risk of being exhausted through overexploitation. With limited renewable water resources, most countries of the area have been driven to reuse their wastewaters. However, specially in the east and northern Mediterranean regions, wastewaters are inefficiently treated or even re-used directly without treatment for irrigation or sanitary purposes, serving as a carrier for diseases or causing water pollution when discharged to water bodies. In the last decade, several water treatment technologies have been used in the region with little success on pathogens removal. Membrane bioreactor technology is a very promising alternative to those conventional water treatments for membranes act as a barrier against bacteria and viruses achieving a high degree of water depuration. However, most membrane bioreactors currently in use have very high running costs because of the high-pressure drop and high air-flushing rate required for their operation. The objective of this project is to study a new approach to the operation of membrane bioreactors. This study will include a comparison of the three leading membrane technologies. The operating procedure to be studied is expected to yield very low energy consumption and reduced maintenance costs. These characteristics would make the bioreactors working in these conditions suitable to be operated in peri-urban areas of the Mediterranean basin, where expenditure in public services is a critical factor. For more information on project on: “New Energy Efficient approach to the operation of Membrane Bioreactors for Decentralised Wastewater Treatment (PURATREAT)”

EMPOWERS

The EMPOWERS Partnership ambition is to improve long-term access and rights to water by vulnerable populations. It is doing this through a participatory water planning & management process with all stakeholders. By stakeholder dialogue and concerted action it will enhance vertical and horizontal linkages, information flows, empowerment and decision making at all levels, including local communities. The result will be integrated water resource development & management at the community and district level.

The main objective of EMPOWERS Regional Information Programme (RIP) can be summarized as follows:

Through strong EuroMed partnerships, strengthen regional linkages and networking and mutual exchange of knowledge and capacity building in sustainable management of water resources

To achieve this objective INWRDAM will take up a number of regional activities identified for EMPOWERS:

• Maintain a project website for: information exchange on local IWRM; consolidation of EMPOWERS process documentation and other outputs; networking; building a data-base on service providers, clients, institutions, projects, etc in the MEDA region; collect grey literature on public participation in local water management in the Arab/MENA region.
• Regional Cross-Visits – a sub-programme of RIP- to facilitate visits from organizations in the Arab world to EMPOWERS Country Programmes for the exchange of the EMPOWERS experiences with the wider public.
• Strengthen and build strategic alignments/alliances with other water networks and institutions working in the MEDA region

Empowers Partnership is composed of three Country Programmes and an overall Regional Programme. The Country Programmes are implemented in Egypt, Jordan and Palestine by Country Partnerships, composed of different partners. An important part of these regional activities are supported by the Regional Information Programme (RIP). At the same time the RIP will support the three Country Programmes.

Constructed Wetlands

Constructed wetlands are treatment systems that use natural processes involving wetland vegetation, soils, and their associated microbial assemblages to improve water quality.

The primary renewable source of freshwater is continental rainfall, which generates a global supply of 40 000–45 000 km3 per year. This more or less constant water supply must support the entire world population, which is steadily increasing by roughly 85 million per year. Thus, the availability of freshwater per capita is decreasing rapidly. About 80 countries and regions, representing 40% of the world’s population, are experiencing water stress, and about 30 countries of these are in OIC regions.

Whereas the mandate and mission of INWRDAM is to foster closer cooperation among Member and MENA countries in the field of development and management of water resources and establish linkages with the international water community and in pursuit of this mission, it seeks to generate ideas and policy directions through intensive dialogue, studies and research on a continued basis.

INWRDAM and in cooperation with The International Union for Conservation of Nature/ Regional Office for West Asia (IUCN-ROWA), implemented three wastewater treatment units based on INWRDAM developed designs for natural treatment processes in Balqa Governorate in the villages of Allan, Jallad and Um Alamad.

Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mali, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Yemen

All OIC member States and Organizations are urged-invited to join INWRDAM as active members to strengthen its efforts to promote greater collaboration amongst the countries of the Ummah to face the challenges of water security and sustainable management of water resources for a better future. INWRDAM would no doubt be able to do more, much more if more and more OIC countries join it. For information about membership of INWRDAM please contact:

Executive Director of INWRDAM

Email: inwrdam@nic.net.jo

For further information about INWRDAM download our new booklets in Arabic, English and French:

INWRDAM-Booklet-Arabic

INWRDAM-Booklet-English

INWRDAM-Booklet-France

INWRDAM

Smart DESERT brochure