Jordan (river)

Jordan (river) (Arabic Al Urdunn, Hebrew Yarden), river in southwest Asia, following a southerly course of 320 km (200 mi) from its source in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains of Lebanon and Syria to its outlet on the Dead Sea. The Jordan rises on the southern slopes of Mount Hermon in southwestern Syria and southeastern Lebanon and flows south through the freshwater Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias) in northern Israel. From there it forms the boundary between Jordan on the east and Israel and the disputed West Bank on the west before emptying into the Dead Sea. (Israel turned most of the West Bank over to Palestinian administration beginning in 1994, the final status of the territory is still under negotiation.) The northern tributaries to the Jordan are the Dan, Bāniyās, and Ḩāşbānī. Only the Dan originates in Israel; the Ḩāşbānī flows from Lebanon and the Bāniyās from Syria. An unnavigable river, the Jordan is generally shallow, narrow, and slow, with the exception of small pockets of rapids or at times of seasonal floods.

The Jordan is a minor river in terms of volume, and dams and diversions on the river and its headwaters at times reduce its flow to little more than a trickle. In an arid region such as the Middle East, however, even the small amount of water carried by the Jordan can be significant. The river is the major source of Lake Tiberias, which, as Israel’s only supply of surface water, provides more than half the country’s fresh water. Pipelines divert water from Lake Tiberias to the National Water Carrier, which brings water to Israeli cities and irrigates agricultural land in the interior as well as in the Negev Desert in southern Israel. Saline springs used to flow into Lake Tiberias and lower the water quality, but the springs have since been diverted to enter the Jordan south of the lake. The area where the Jordan exits the lake is considered holy, and baptismal facilities have been constructed there. (The Jordan is frequently referred to in the Bible and is mentioned in the New Testament as the site of the baptism of Jesus Christ.)

The Yarmūk River, which rises in Syria and is part of the Syrian-Jordanian and then Israeli-Jordanian border, contributes to the renewed flow of the Jordan south of Lake Tiberias. The Jordanians rely on water drawn from the Yarmūk for the East Ghor Canal irrigation project that parallels the Jordan River. Flowing between cliffs rising to the Jordanian plateau on the east and the Samarian Hills of Israel and the West Bank on the west, the Jordan River meanders slightly as it moves south to its mouth at the Dead Sea. This area, called the Jordan Valley, is entirely below sea level, and its climate is hot and arid. In addition to climatic limitations on development, conflict between Israel and Jordan has limited growth in the area. Until a peace treaty was signed by the two countries in 1994, the Jordan River was a hostile border, bracketed by fences, minefields, and electronic surveillance. Access to the river was restricted, and stretches of land along both banks were closed to civilian activity. Improving relations in recent years have allowed farming up to the river’s edge, and the Jordan has become an increasingly peaceful boundary.

Economic growth in the areas along the river has exacerbated the water scarcity issues of the region. As Palestinian agriculture emerges from the limitations imposed by Israel, competition for the water of the Jordan will increase. Already the diversions from Lake Tiberias by Israel and from the Yarmūk by Jordan have diminished the river’s volume. This in turn has decreased the flow into the Dead Sea, which depends on the Jordan to replenish the vast quantity of water lost through evaporation.