Jordan and Syria Sign Cloud-Seeding and Water-Sharing Deal for the Yarmouk Basin

Freitag, 13. November 2026

Jordan and Syria signed a package of cooperation agreements in Amman on November 9, including a long-sought water accord covering the shared Yarmouk River basin — the most concrete step in years toward resolving a water dispute that has strained relations between the two countries since Syria's civil war disrupted joint management of the river.

The water agreement, one of 11 documents signed at a meeting of the Jordan-Syria Higher Committee, commits the two governments to a joint cloud-seeding project over the Yarmouk Basin intended to boost rainfall feeding the river and, downstream, Jordan's Al-Wehda Dam — the kingdom's largest reservoir, which has for years operated well below design capacity. Officials from both countries also agreed to set up a joint technical platform to manage the basin's water more equitably and to address Jordanian complaints that reduced cross-border flows have deepened the kingdom's chronic water shortage.

Jordan has long argued that upstream dams and groundwater extraction on the Syrian side of the border, built up over decades, cut deliveries to the Yarmouk below what a 1987 bilateral agreement calls for, starving Al-Wehda of the inflows it needs to supply drinking water and irrigation to northern Jordan. Damascus's new government has signaled a shift on the issue since earlier this year, with senior Syrian officials telling Jordanian counterparts that Syria intends to share the river's water fairly going forward, a pledge formalized in Sunday's signing.

The water deal came alongside a broader thaw in bilateral relations, with the two sides also signing agreements on a rail link, transport corridors, and civil aviation, and officials saying trade between the countries has nearly tripled over the past year. The signing followed a period of tension after deadly airstrikes near the shared border, and both governments framed the new agreements as a step toward rebuilding trust alongside practical cooperation on shared resources.

For Jordan, which the UN ranks among the most water-scarce countries in the world, restoring fuller flows to the Yarmouk and Al-Wehda Dam would ease pressure on groundwater aquifers that have been pumped at unsustainable rates to cover shortfalls. Jordanian water officials described the cloud-seeding initiative and the new joint platform as "tangible" progress after years of inconclusive talks, though implementation details — including funding, technical oversight, and a timeline for the cloud-seeding program — have yet to be published. Both sides said further technical committee meetings are planned to translate the agreement into operational projects on the ground.