Applied Geography 19 (1999) 313–323 www.elsevier.com/locate/apgeog Groundwater resources and quality in northeastern Jordan: safe yield and sustainability Jane Dottridge a,* , Nizar Abu Jaber b a Komex, 15–16 Margaret Street, London W1N 7LE, UK b Yarmouk University, Irbid 21163, Jordan Abstract Over-abstraction of groundwater is one concern of the Badia Research and Development Programme. The upper aquifer of the Azraq basin forms the largest resource of good-quality water, but current abstraction exceeds both average recharge and the safe yield of the aquifer, which is over-exploited. Although there has been no deterioration in water quality and only minor drawdown, the springs at Azraq have dried up, with severe, undesirable environmental impacts. Total abstraction of 20 × 10 6 m 3 yr -1 appears to be sustainable and would allow some springflow, but this leaves a shortfall of 40 × 10 6 m 3 yr -1 for domestic supply and agriculture.  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Groundwater; Resources; Sustainability; Over-exploitation; Safe yield; Jordan; Azraq basin Introduction When the Badia Research and Development Programme (BRDP) began in 1992, over-abstraction of groundwater was identified as one of the potential problems in the project area: ‘the exploitation of most groundwater aquifers beyond their safe yield is causing depletion and salination of water and this practice should be stopped before permanent and irreversible damage occurs’ (HCST, 1993). Investigation of the water resources in the pilot programme area and their sustainable use has formed part of the BRDP since 1993 (Dottridge, 1998). The fieldwork has included a well * Corresponding author. Tel.: + 44-171-255-1609; fax: + 44-171-255-1580. E-mail address: jdottridge@komex-uk.com (J. Dottridge) 0143-6228/99/$ - see front matter  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII:S0143-6228(99)00012-0