Agricultural land in the wilderness of Wadi Rum in Jordan

This carousel irrigation, in the Wadi Rum Desert in Jordan, comes out of the ordinary. However, it endangers water reserves.

Everyone knows Jordan for Petr and its facade of the treasure, and more recently the general public was able to see the undeniable beauty of the Wadi Rum in the film "Only on Mars" shot in this iconic Jordan desert.

Known as the "La Vallée de la Lune", the Wadi Rum Desert is located south of the country and on the border of Saudi Arabia, and is famous for its magistral landscapes between granite mountains and red sand. Natural arches, narrow gorges, caves on a total area of 720 km2, a desert landscape that nevertheless hosts strange agricultural lands and green circles! Isn't that amazing?

So where does the water come from which to cultivate these immense surfaces?

The water that makes these cultures possible is actually under your feet. Although the location of these agricultural lands may seem to be a strange choice, it is much less when one learns that under the Wadi rum desert there is a large aquifer which stretches to Saudi Arabia. In fact, much of the water supply in this desert country is dependent on this unique source of water.

Unfortunately, this phreactic table has no time to reconstitute because it is made of fossil water, i.e. very old. This method of irrigation dates back to antiquity, the Egyptians and the Nabateans were already using this system called “Buttering Carousel” or “Carousel Irrigation”. The water is drawn from the aquifer, from 30 to 400 metres deep and irrigates more than 70 hectares. All kinds of specialties are found in the agricultural land of Wadi Rum, vegetables, cereals, as well as eggplants, cabbage, figs, potatoes etc.

You will have understood, these agricultural lands are full of surprises and cease to amaze. Only, blossoming the desert is not only synonymous with miracles, it also leads to population ration and salinization of groundwater and soils. Unfortunately man is spending in a few decades what has put thousands of years to form.

Despite this concern of certain ecology, one can only be stunned by this landscape, let’s say one can no longer be unusual!