Shortly after the independence of Jordan in 1946 and the annexation of the West Bank, only a small share of the population of less than half a million had access to piped water on their premises.

These institutions operated outside of government routine and offered better pay than the regular public service in order to attract the motivated and talented employees required for the important task to develop the country's water sector.

[10] These efforts, however, were thwarted when Jordan lost the West Bank to Israel, and with it about a third of its population, in the Six-Day War of 1967, and during an ensuing period of internal disorder and violence known as the Black September that lasted until 1971.

The Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who was closely allied with Jordan at the time, approved the request, but a feasibility study done in the mid-80s showed that the long-distance transfer would be prohibitively expensive.

After abandoning this option, the government shifted its attention to the Disi Water Conveyance Project that would bring fossil groundwater from the border area with Saudi Arabia to Amman.

[11] In terms of institutional development, the government decided to return to the earlier structure of creating two separate autonomous agencies in charge of the water sector.

Along with two other former water ministers, Haddadin was indicted by the State Prosecutor, but the charges were dropped after Crown Prince Hasan was sidelined in favor of King Abdullah II who succeeded his father after his death in February 1999.

It also completed other large projects, including the construction of a modern wastewater treatment plant for Amman in As-Samra and the Al-Wehda Dam on the Yarmouk River.

Wadi Musa and the neighboring villages of Taiba, B'Doul and Beida were among the few localities in the Highlands that briefly enjoyed continuous water supply after a new well field had been built and the distribution network had been rehabilitated in 2001.

In a 2011 study by the Jordanian Government, more than 90% of samples taken at house water storage tanks in three Amman distribution zones (Rasheed, Kharabsheh and Khalda) had chlorine residual levels between 0.2 mg/L and 0.5 mg/L.

According to the report these measures are also crucial for gaining public confidence in water quality, the reliability of services and encourage people to accept tariff reform.

Syria and Jordan have signed a bilateral treaty over the sharing of the Yarmouk River in 1987 in preparation for the construction of the Al-Wehda Dam on the border between the two countries.

[45] Extension workers from the Ministry of Agriculture use a computer-based information system to advise farmers on how to optimize their fertigation in light of the irrigation water quality, location, crop, soil type and other factors.

Despite these efforts, the majority of farmers in the Jordan Valley are not aware of the nutrient content of the reclaimed water, although experience from demonstration sites shows that using it, fertiliser expenditures can be reduced by 60%.

[50] Another pilot project was initiated using wastewater from the small Wadi Hassan treatment plant to irrigate green spaces on the campus of the University of Irbid, and commercial fruit plantations.

In 2009 a government report noted that "Jordan’s remarkable development achievements are under threat due to the crippling water scarcity, which is expected to be aggravated by climate change.

Concerning the reuse of greywater, Jordan's Ministry of Water promotes this alternative source especially in the agricultural sector, but also in hotels, government premises and on the individual household level.

In areas served by public companies - the governorates of Amman, Aqaba, Irbid, Jerash, Ajloun and Mafraq - tariffs are higher than in the rest of the country where services are provided by WAJ.

[6] In the period 2005–10, public investments in water supply and sanitation were financed from the following sources: WAJ local currency bonds had a maturity of only three years, are government-guaranteed and pay 4 to 7% interest.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) approved two loans for the rehabilitation of the water supply network in Greater Amman in 1996 and 1998 for a total of 49 million Euro.

[82] The Jordanian government has collaborated with the European Investment Bank and Team Europe, and other international agencies to come up with an infrastructure for the Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project.

The German technical cooperation agency GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) supports the Management of Water Resources Programme initiated in 2006.

To achieve these objectives, the program "examines legal and institutional frameworks", offers training, supports the establishment of databases and sets up "organisational structures and processes to improve efficiency".

[25] The Euro 16.3 m poverty-oriented infrastructure project implemented by the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) of Jordan increased access to water and sanitation in two squatter settlements and four refugee camps.

[90] The Euro 60.1 m Greater Irbid sewage disposal project (1994–2002) included the construction of two wastewater treatment plants and the associated sewer infrastructure connecting 202,000 residents, as well as training for operational staff.

The local presence within the MWI played a crucial role in gaining stakeholder acceptance and facilitating the implementation of this innovative wastewater approach.

The office organised working group meetings, provided technical guidance to decision-makers and, drawing on the expertise of experts in Germany, drafted a major contribution to structural water protection in Jordan.

In 2016, the Jordanian cabinet adopted the first decentralised wastewater management policy in the Arab world (DWWM-Policy), with the active participation of the German team.

In March 2020, NICE received the mandate from the Jordanian Cabinet to play a coordinating and steering role in the implementation of integrated wastewater system solutions.

[97] US assistance to the water and sanitation sector in Jordan is provided through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).