ABSTRACT

The most northerly part of Jordan—part of the Roman province of Syria—is made up of highland lying between 350 m and 550 m above sea level. The edges of the highland are jagged and the deeply incised valleys descend in the west to the Jordan, 200 m below sea level, and in the north to its largest tributary, the Yarmuk (Figure 11.1). These two rivers are the only ones that retain their flow throughout the year; all others have a periodic characteristic. At the edge of the Jordan Rift Valley, a winter rainfall of 350–500 mm makes crop farming possible. Further east, where rainfall is lower and does not exceed 200 mm, this crop farming is replaced by pasture farming. The evaporation of 2200 mm and the low capacity of the springs indicate a significant water deficit. An additional factor is the wide variation (between 200 mm and 900 mm) * in annual rainfall, which would destabilize any water supply system without storage capacity.