Dam on the Yarmuk river.
Proposed in 1953, the Maqarin (colloquially, Magarin) dam was to span the Yarmuk River between Syria and Jordan. No action was taken toward its construction, however, until 1988, when the two governments decided upon a joint project. Renamed Sadd al-Wahda (the Unity Dam), it will hold some 300 million cubic yards (225 million cu. m) of water. Jordan will pay for construction while Syria will gain use of much of the resulting electricity that is generated. In 1988, when Israel and Jordan held discussions on partitioning the waters of the Yarmuk, Syria refused to participate. Jordan and Syria finally agreed, in April 2003, to go forward with the project. A scheduled inauguration of the project in November 2003 was postponed, however.
Bibliography
Metz, Helen Chapin, ed. Jordan: A Country Study, 4th edition. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1991.
— MICHAEL R. FISCHBACH
