The Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ) has signed a funding agreement with the United States Embassy in Amman for the National Water Carrier project, also known as the Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance (AAWDC) project.

The agreement carries a total value of approximately $78.2 million, including $69 million funded by the US government and $9.2 million contributed by the Jordanian government

Jordanian officials said the agreement marks the launch of several complementary projects linked to the National Water Carrier programme, including:

·Construction of strategic water reservoirs

·Transmission pipelines in Amman and Zarqa governorates

·Connections between water reception points and distribution networks

·Engineering design and supervision services

·Water network expansion planning

·Institutional capacity-building programmes

·Deployment of advanced leak detection and monitoring systems

The agreement represents the first major initiative under the National Water Carrier Readiness Program, which includes 11 major water infrastructure projects across the country with combined estimated investments of approximately $850 million.

Toward financial close

Last month, Jordan signed the project’s final technical and legal agreement, marking a major milestone toward financial close targeted in July.

The National Water Carrier project is estimated to cost $4.3 billion in terms of capital expenditure.  The total project cost including financing expenses has been estimated at approximately $5.8 billion.

The project is expected to begin operations in 2030 and supply approximately 40 percent of Jordan’s drinking water needs upon completion.

(Writing by Majda Muhsen; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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