ABSTRACT
Groundwater in the Hammad and Sirhan has traditionally been used by the Bedouin, and until recently only abstracted from shallow hand dug wells. Various reports on Jordan’s water resources have covered the two basins (Chemonics 1992, CES 1993, Agrar 1977). In essence they all agree with the latter: ‘...the areas XIII (Sirhan) and XV (Hammad) are without any importance regarding water resources and water use’ (Agrar 1977). In the last few years a number of new boreholes have been drilled in the area. Most of these are operated by the Water Authority (WAJ) or the Ministry of Agriculture to supply the Bedouin. In addition, a number of new unlicensed farms have recently started to operate in North Sirhan. This apparently unrestricted development caused some concern among staff and researchers at the BRDP base in Safawi, and it was decided to commission a report (Haaland 1996) to investigate the new developments. The main points of that report are presented in this paper.
