In developing countries, like Jordan, climate change and population growth have prompted land-use and land-cover changes that have profoundly affected ESs, especially by poor people living in fragile ecosystems. This study aimed to analyze the attitudes towards ES among households living in Wadi Araba, a study area located in a dry ecosystem with limited natural resources, as well as to determine the value of ES and the main socio-economic and perceptions factors influencing households’ willingness to accept (WTA) compensation according to the families’ priorities. The face-to-face method was used to interview a random sample of 296 residents from the study sites, using a structured questionnaire to capture the accepted level of compensation for conservation by the local community. Additionally, multiple linear regression analysis was applied to determine the main socio-economic factors affecting WTA. More than 91% of the respondents were willing to accept compensation for three different conservation plans that reflect the resident’s priority. For the three priorities, the weighted average of the compensation levels was JOD 436, 339, 261 per household per year, respectively, and the aggregate values were about JOD (1,196,977.8, 930,601.2, and 719,411.8, respectively) (JOD 1 = USD 1.41). The residents’ gender, age, and income were among the most important factors that affect the compensation level. The main policy implications are that the government and non-governmental organizations should strengthen advocacy and education of arid ecological and natural resources protection, besides including the local community in any decisions in establishing differentiated compensation strategies and regulations. Eventually, the conservation and restoration activities will become self-initiated.

The Jordanian portion of the Jordan Valley serves as a critical geostrategic and agricultural corridor, yet it faces an existential threat from absolute water scarcity, climate change, and regional demographic pressures. This study provides an exhaustive qualitative analysis of water governance in the valley, drawing on national strategies, institutional archives, and longitudinal data from 2000 to 2025. The research evaluates the transition of the Jordan Valley Authority (JVA) from a centralized development agency toward a mature, tri-tier decentralization framework involving Water User Associations (WUAs). Despite these reforms, systemic challenges such as elite capture, non-revenue water (NRW) losses in the King Abdullah Canal (KAC), and the subsidies continue to hinder efficiency. The study applies the Water–Energy–Food–Ecosystem (WEFE) nexus framework to examine the interdependencies between energy-intensive pumping, the reuse of Treated Wastewater (TWW) for 98% in certain sectors, and the preservation of the Dead Sea ecosystem. Findings indicate that while land-use policies have preserved 371,000 dunums of agricultural land, approximately 71,000 dunums remain uncultivated due to water shortages. The manuscript identifies the Amman-Aqaba Water Conveyance Project (AAWA) and the 2030 Digital IT Roadmap as essential catalysts for long-term resilience. The paper concludes with adaptive governance recommendations aimed at reconciling national strategic priorities with localized operational efficiency.

The Jordan Valley, a critical agro-ecosystem in Jordan, faces escalating challenges from chronic water scarcity compounded by environmental and socio-economic pressures, necessitating a systems perspective to understand cross-sector interactions beyond isolated sectoral issues. This study interprets socio-ecological interactions influencing sustainability outcomes in the region and identifies key feedback loops and adaptive responses under water scarcity through an integrated Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) and Water–Energy–Food–Ecosystems (WEFE) framework. Employing a qualitative document analysis (QDA) design, a purposive collection of peer-reviewed studies and institutional publications (n = 50) published between 2002 and 2025 was assembled and systematically coded using a structured deductive–inductive strategy grounded in SES components and WEFE domain interactions. Results reveal seven interconnected themes: water scarcity as a structural constraint, agricultural intensification and resource pressures, climate change as a stress multiplier, ecosystem degradation and service loss, pollution and environmental quality challenges, socio-economic vulnerability and livelihood constraints, and fragmented governance with coordination gaps. These themes highlight reinforcing loops where scarcity promotes groundwater reliance and non-conventional water use, intensification heightens salinity and contamination risks, climate variability escalates irrigation demands, and ecological degradation diminishes buffering capacity, while socio-economic limitations hinder adaptation and governance fragmentation impairs integrated planning and enforcement. While prior studies have examined water scarcity, agricultural intensification, or climate impacts in isolation, this study advances the literature by synthesizing these dynamics through an integrated SES–WEFE analytical lens, revealing reinforcing system feedbacks and governance constraints that are not visible within single-sector or descriptive syntheses.

The Jordan Valley is a heavily modified, data-limited transboundary river basin where water availability is constrained by both climate conditions and intensive human intervention. This study applies an integrated hydrological and hydrogeochemical modeling framework using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to quantify basin-scale water availability and quality and to assess climate change impacts for the period 2000–2021. Results indicate that the basin is strongly evapotranspiration-dominated, with mean annual precipitation of 298.9 mm and precipitation-derived evapotranspiration accounting for 66.3% of rainfall. When externally supplied irrigation water is included, total evapotranspiration increases markedly, highlighting the strong dependence of agriculture on imported surface water and groundwater abstractions. Only a small fraction of total water input contributes to river discharge toward the Dead Sea, indicating a very limited internal water surplus. Hydrological dynamics are largely controlled by upstream dams and transboundary diversions, while nitrate and sediment simulations demonstrate a close coupling between hydrology, land use, and water quality. Climate projections suggest further reductions in water availability during the 21st century, exacerbating existing water scarcity. Overall, the study illustrates how intensive regulation and irrigation dependency constrain water availability in the Jordan Valley and in similar heavily modified transboundary river basins.

Jordan is among the most water-stressed countries globally, with renewable freshwater availability falling below 100 m³ per capita per year. The Jordan Valley (JV), the country’s primary irrigated agricultural corridor, faces interconnected pressures across water, energy, food, and ecosystem (WEFE) systems under intensifying climatic and demographic stressors. This study evaluates the integrated performance of the WEFE nexus in the Jordan Valley using updated evidence (2018–2023) to quantify cross-sector interactions, performance gaps, and intervention priorities. A mixed-methods empirical assessment integrated quantitative sectoral data on water supply–demand and quality, electricity supply–demand and renewable deployment, agricultural productivity, and ecosystem pressure indicators, complemented by Living Lab–based stakeholder interviews. Sectoral indices were calculated based on supply–demand adequacy and aggregated into an overall WEFE Nexus Index. Results indicate persistent water scarcity, with a domestic supply of 23.48 MCM yr⁻¹ versus demand of 26.00 MCM yr⁻¹ (deficit −2.52 MCM yr⁻¹) and irrigation supply of 206 MCM yr⁻¹ relative to approximately 400 MCM yr⁻¹ demand (deficit −194 MCM yr⁻¹). Water services account for 14% of national electricity consumption, while solar pumping provides approximately 40% of daytime irrigation energy. Agricultural productivity is constrained by salinity and water quality, resulting in yield gaps (e.g., greenhouse vegetables: 4.7 vs. 10.0 t/dunum). Sectoral performance is uneven (Water 0.71; Energy 1.00; Food 0.45; Ecosystem 0.50), yielding an overall WEFE Nexus Index of 0.63 (0.50 after efficiency adjustment). Climate projections indicate continued warming (+1.8 °C) and declining precipitation (−11%) by 2060. Water harvesting, integrated renewable-powered water services, wastewater reuse, salinity management, climate-smart agriculture, and ecosystem restoration are critical to enhancing climate-resilient resource security in the Jordan Valley. The WEFE index developed here offers a tool for integrated planning and underscores that achieving climate-resilient resource security in the Jordan Valley will require strategic, cross-sector interventions and adaptive governance rather than sector-specific fixes.

Date growth area in Jordan is expanding rapidly and estimation of its crop water requirements is needed. In this study, an attempt was made to estimate the daily actual evapotranspiration of date using Analytical Land Atmosphere Radiometer Model (ALARM) and FAO Penman-Monteith (FAO P-M) methods. The first objective of this study was to estimate the daily actual evapotranspiration of date trees using remote sensing data by ALARM model. The second objective was to compare the performance of the ALARM with calculated ETc using the FAO-56 Penman-Monteith equation, the most widely used method for estimating ET. Six images from Landsat 8 and 9 were used to compute ALARM ETa. The measured daily ETa of the date ranged from 2.58 mm/day on February 9 to 5.12 mm/day on May 15. ALARM underestimated the daily-calculated ETc1 by 30% on March 12, 16% on March 28, 12% on April 5, 8% on April 21, and 12.6% on May 15. The results obtained through ALARM and PM methods were evaluated through statistical performance measure tests. ETa estimated from ALARM was found to correlate tightly as R2 (0.842) and R2 (0.815) with ETc1 and ETc2, respectively. The other statistical parameters (RMSE) for ALARM result with FAO ETc1and ETc2 as 0.85 mm/day and 1.12 mm/day, respectively were also showing a good agreement between ALARM ETa and PM ETc. The findings of study have suggested that ALARM model shows a good potential to estimate spatial ET for the region.