Maragkaki et al. (2026) Hydrological and Geochemical Modeling of Water Availability and Quality in the Jordan Valley Under Climate Change

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-03-19
• Authors: Antonia Maragkaki, Sofia D. Nerantzaki, Anan Jayyousi, Suleiman Halasah, Abeer Albalawneh, Luma Hamdi, Maria Α. Lilli, Dionissis Efstathiou, Maram Naimat, Safaa Jaafreh, Nikolaos P. Nikolaidis
• DOI: 10.3390/w18060721

Research Groups

Not explicitly detailed in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study applied an integrated hydrological and hydrogeochemical modeling framework to quantify water availability and quality and assess climate change impacts in the Jordan Valley, revealing it is evapotranspiration-dominated, highly dependent on imported irrigation, and faces exacerbated water scarcity under future climate change.

Objective

• To quantify basin-scale water availability and quality in the Jordan Valley.
• To assess climate change impacts on water resources in the Jordan Valley for the period 2000–2021 and the 21st century.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Basin-scale (Jordan Valley, a transboundary river basin).
• Temporal Scale: 2000–2021 for current assessment; 21st century for climate projections.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) - an integrated hydrological and hydrogeochemical modeling framework.
• Data sources: Not explicitly detailed in the provided text, but implies a combination of hydrological, hydrogeochemical, and climate data for a "data-limited" basin.

Main Results

• The Jordan Valley basin is strongly evapotranspiration-dominated.
• Mean annual precipitation is 298.9 mm.
• Precipitation-derived evapotranspiration accounts for 66.3% of rainfall.
• Total evapotranspiration increases significantly when externally supplied irrigation water is included, highlighting agriculture's strong dependence 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.
• 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.

Contributions

• Applies an integrated hydrological and hydrogeochemical modeling framework (SWAT) to a heavily modified, data-limited transboundary river basin (Jordan Valley).
• Provides a comprehensive quantification of basin-scale water availability and quality, and an assessment of climate change impacts in a complex, human-impacted system.
• Illustrates the critical role of intensive regulation and irrigation dependency in constraining water availability in such transboundary river basins.

Funding

Not explicitly detailed in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Maragkaki2026Hydrological,
  author = {Maragkaki, Antonia and Nerantzaki, Sofia D. and Jayyousi, Anan and Halasah, Suleiman and Albalawneh, Abeer and Hamdi, Luma and Lilli, Maria Α. and Efstathiou, Dionissis and Naimat, Maram and Jaafreh, Safaa and Nikolaidis, Nikolaos P.},
  title = {Hydrological and Geochemical Modeling of Water Availability and Quality in the Jordan Valley Under Climate Change},
  journal = {Water},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.3390/w18060721},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/w18060721}
}