After months of delay, Jordan’s National Water Carrier project, centered on desalinating Red Sea water and pumping 300 million cubic meters annually over 460 kilometers to the country's most densely populated central region, is set to commence before 2029.

Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abu Al-Saud announced during a dialogue hosted by EDAMA, an energy, water, and environment association, that the project has reached its final stages.

A preliminary agreement with a funding and implementing entity has been secured, and both environmental impact and economic feasibility studies have been completed. The contract was awarded to France’s Meridiam Global Investment Fund, which has established a regional office in Amman.

But Water Minister Abu Al-Saud refrained from revealing the cost of water desalination or the consumer pricing, although he emphasized the project's urgent necessity, as Jordan is now one of the world’s "poorest countries in water resources" due to a dramatic rise in population.

Abu Al-Saud stated that the cost of the project is not a priority given the critical nature of the situation, noting that Jordan was once water-rich before 1948.

"We have reached the peak of resource depletion and are now in a dangerous phase," Abu Al-Saud warned, adding that the current practice of supplying water once a week could worsen to once every two or three weeks if the project is not completed within five years.

The minister stressed that renewable water sources for individuals have dropped to 100 cubic meters annually, five times lower than the global water poverty threshold of 500 cubic meters per person per year.

The project, estimated to cost USD 3 billion, will include a renewable energy station to "reduce costs" associated with the desalination plant and pumps along the supply line to Amman, making it the third-largest project of its kind in the region, after those in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Abu Al-Saud also projected that over-exploited groundwater wells will be phased out once the National Water Carrier becomes operational.

Dureid Mahasneh, chairman of EDAMA and an international water expert, highlighted the project’s significance for ensuring "resource security and reducing dependency on neighbors," referring to “Israel”, which has supplied water to Jordan under a treaty since 1994.

According to a Western source, the European Bank for Development has offered EUR 400 million to support the National Water Carrier project, including 100 million euros as a grant and 300 million euros as low-interest loans.

Additionally, Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy have pledged grants and concessional loans to further the project.