Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 7.3
Building foundations from the Arab colonization period.
early 1980s to supply the major cities of Zarqa and Amman (FigureĀ  7.4). During
the period from 1980 to 2001, extraction rose from 15 to more than 55 mcm (Irani
2004). The most important factor to recognize is that today's annual pumping rate
is actually now double the annual rate of recharge for the basin. At the same time,
Syria dammed the major inflowing river, thereby holding back water which would
have otherwise seeped into the aquifer. In short, the aquifer is now being mined like
any nonrenewable mineral or petroleum resource.
In addition, many unlicensed wells sprang up within the oasis due to people from
the city establishing agriculture plots (FigureĀ 7.5). There are now almost a thousand of
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