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Application of Geo
Information Systems at the Jordan Valley Authority (GIS(
Modern water resource
management relies on accurate information and its
regular updating. The use of Geo Information Systems
(GIS) has become a widely applied tool in the management
of water resources. GIS is a valuable tool to integrate,
analyze, and visualize data in ways not available
before. It can help the Jordan Valley Authority (JVA) to
fulfill its mission of environmentally and economically
sound water and land management. To support JVA in
planning and decision making concerning its tasks in
water resource management, water distribution and
supply, and land management and development, the GIS
Division has prepared a number of pilot applications.
The GIS Division acts as a service provider to JVA,
where all interested parties are provided with
information products, consulting regarding GIS
applications, and training of staff.
Wide field of work
The application of GIS
in water resources management offers new insights and
perspectives in existing water distribution systems. JVA
is primarily concerned with the distribution of
irrigation water, where possible uses of GIS are:
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Management of
irrigation water distribution networks and their
hydraulic modeling
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Updating of base maps
regarding land distribution
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Establishment of a
land use database, assistance in land use planning
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Survey of all assets
in the irrigation systems
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Coupling of base maps
to existing databases
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Display of changes in
water quality over time and space
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Prepare maps of
relevant natural assets, like soil, surface water,
groundwater, precipitation
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Assistance in
infrastructural planning, e.g. for canals, water
carriers or power lines, communication lines
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Mapping of previously
unknown features (illegal wells, septic tanks, water
resource locations(
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Planning tool in the
protection of watersheds and groundwater
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Integration platform
for all available water related data for the Jordan
Valley and Wadi Araba
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Assistance in
specialized analyses of JVA and donor organization
projects
Applications
Among the applications
developed are:
The base map for the
Jordan Valley and the Southern Ghor was finished and
linked with data related to the individual farm unit,
such as land value, water consumption, planted crops,
ownership or irrigation method. The base map is the
official cadastral dataset for the Jordan Valley,
showing farm unit boundaries and other organizational
entities such as development areas (example here(
Soil
property and water use maps for the Brackish Water
Project. The water use maps show water sources used by
farmers in addition to JVA water. The water sources are
thereby ranked according to their salinity (example here(
Linking
of the Water Management Information System (WMIS)
database at the JVA Control Centre to the base map of
farm units in the Jordan Valley. Properties related to
irrigated agriculture for each farm unit can be
displayed and analyzed for the whole Jordan Valley
(example here(
The
preparation of display maps that summarizes the main
projects that were constructed by the Jordan Valley
Authority; dams projects (example here) ,irrigation
projects (example here) and the location of the water
harvesting dams along the eastern desert (example here(
Preparation of maps for
the water quality delivered by JVA to each farm unit
depending on the irrigation feeder
Calculation
of the capital value for farm units in the Southern Ghor.
Based on soil quality and farm unit boundary in addition
to tabular data of each farm’s assets, GIS analysis
produced maps of the total value depending on soil
quality class and the existence of trees or buildings
and other infrastructure or investments (example here(
Preparation of digital
irrigation network layers that can be exported to a
hydraulic modeling software
Determining the
locations for wells and springs in the Jordan Valley
using GPS (Global Positioning System)
Analysis of satellite
imagery: Land use/land cover maps are being prepared for
the whole Jordan Valley and Wadi Araba for different
points in time (example here(
Outlook at possible applications
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Unifying the billing
for land rent and water through integration of WMIS,
GIS and real time water quality measurements
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Integration of all
„water data“ into a GIS-based information system with
metadata capabilities
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Analysis of spatial
data: correlations, extremes, trends
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Tools for spatial
querying of (GIS-) databases as Decision Support
System for different working levels at JVA
Who
can use the GIS services?
The products and
services are already used in various directorates and
projects within JVA, as well as within the Ministry of
Water and Irrigation. Co-operations exist with donor
organizations working in the water sector in Jordan and
with universities. In addition to products, the GIS
Division also provides services, especially in
consulting and training. Training of staff both
on-the-job and in separate training sessions in the
application of GIS and related fields has been and will
be conducted. Through its many products and
applications, the GIS Division is already supporting JVA
in the process of inventorying its assets and in the
Strategic and Master Planning, especially regarding land
use planning and land management, but also in water
resource management. The combination of GIS, Remote
Sensing and attribute databases will thus be a powerful
tool for the future-oriented management of the Jordan
Valley
Further
inquiries for information or training and co-operation
are always welcome. Please contact us
GIS
Division
Jordan
Valley Authority
P.O. Box 2769
Amman - Jordan
phone: 00962 6 5684134
fax: 00962 6 5678926
email:
youssef_hassan@mwi.gov.jo
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