From September 13 to 17, 2026, in Amman, the Scientific and Technical Committee on Agricultural Water (COSTEA), with the support of AFD’s AdaptAction program co-financed by the European Union, in partnership with the Jordanian Water Authority (WAJ) of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, gathered about twenty professionals from eight countries (Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, and Jordan) at a regional workshop to exchange experiences and disseminate scientific knowledge based on the “multi-barrier approach,” promoted by the World Health Organization.
The objective: to strengthen the risk management associated with the reuse of treated wastewater in agriculture. This is a strategic practice in a context of increasing scarcity of water resources and adaptation to climate change.
Treated Wastewater Reuse (REUT): A Major Challenge in the Face of Water Resource Scarcity
In the face of climate change, many countries are confronted with increasing pressure on their water resources. The reuse of treated wastewater (REUT) is a solution to diversify available resources for irrigation and strengthen the resilience of agricultural systems.
Its development, however, requires controlling health and environmental risks and taking into account, beyond just treatment infrastructures, agricultural practices, uses, regulatory frameworks, governance, and the responsibilities of the various stakeholders.
It is with this perspective that COSTEA has been developing work for several years dedicated to REUT and the implementation of the multi-barrier approach, promoted by the World Health Organization.
This training constitutes a new step in the process of disseminating scientific knowledge promoted by COSTEA. With the support of the French Development Agency and particularly its AdaptAction program, a first session of this training was held in Tunisia in November 2025. It allowed for testing the educational content, animation methods, and the use of the AMBRE tool – Multi-Barrier Approach for Water Reuse, developed by INRAE in partnership with the Rhône Méditerranée Corse Water Agency and Ecofilae.
Water Reuse: A Strategic Issue for Jordan
Building on the lessons learned from this first experience, the session organized in Amman today allows for adapting this approach to the Jordanian context and continuing exchanges between countries on the operational implementation of REUT. This is a particularly strategic issue in Jordan, where the reuse of treated wastewater plays an increasing role in water resource management policies, notably through the National Water Strategy, which foresees an increase in the use of treated wastewater for irrigation by 70% in 2040 compared to 2021 (from 164 to 279 million m³), while strengthening health and environmental risk management systems.
Engineer Hamza Al-Qudah, Director of the REUT Division within the Water Authority, stated that Jordan’s water sector is striving to implement integrated water resource management and increase the use of treated water, a fundamental pillar for addressing water scarcity challenges, in accordance with the National Water Strategy (2023-2040).
Marwan Saad, Program Officer at the European Union Delegation in Jordan, reaffirmed the European Union’s commitment to the development of water sectors throughout the Mediterranean region.
Guillaume Merere, Head of the Water and Energy Division at the French Development Agency (AFD), also reiterated the agency’s commitment to supporting projects aimed not only at providing high-quality water but also at reusing this water in the agricultural sector and promoting rational management of treated water.
Ms. Ehssan El Meknassi, COSTEA’s Mediterranean Regional Coordinator, presented the initiative’s objectives and its role in improving the efficiency of water management for agricultural purposes.
This second session also comes a few weeks before the 26th World Congress of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), which will be held in Marseille from October 12 to 17, 2026, and which Jordan will attend for the first time as an observer state of COSTEA.