AMMAN - The Spanish government will extend 965,000 euros to finance a three-year project for the rehabilitation of the severely polluted Zarqa River Basin.

The Ministry of Environment and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation signed an agreement to this effect on Monday.

The 73-kilometre-long Zarqa River, which flows through the Amman, Zarqa, Jerash, Balqa and Mafraq governorates, suffers from pollution and depletion of its sources due to random cultivation along its banks.

The Zarqa River catchment area is the most densely populated region in the Kingdom, home to 65 per cent of the total population and more than 85 per cent of its industries.

The Environment Ministry blames the continuous flooding of sewer pipelines, which pass through the body of the river, as the main source of its pollution. Dumping of waste in the river is another main concern.

The river's pollution levels have gotten so severe in recent years that nearby residents complain about the stench emanating from the river, which becomes particularly putrid during the summer.

The project, which will be implemented in cooperation with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, aims to strengthen institutional capacities for the rehabilitation and integrated water resource management of the Zarqa River.

It also seeks to raise the awareness of end-users towards more sustainable approaches to the management of natural resources.

"The Zarqa River Basin has been subject to environmental deterioration for decades and lost a great deal of its natural ecosystems. We are now faced with the urgent priority of restoring some of those ecosystems and characteristics," Environment Minister Khalid Irani said yesterday at an event to launch the project.

He said a special unit for the restoration of the basin's ecosystems and the empowerment of the Zarqa regional directorate at the ministry will be established under the project.

"A master plan will also be developed at the levels of policies, legislation… ecological restoration and community involvement. The master plan will include actions to be implemented in an integrated manner," the minister said.

Spanish Ambassador to Jordan Manuel Lorenzo said the project aims at mainstreaming environmental well-being and sustainability into the policies and strategies adopted for the Zarqa basin.

The ambassador added that the Zarqa River is an important water source for thousands of people, but noted that it suffers from pollution, depletion and water quality degradation