AMMAN, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Jordan has sent a letter to Syria protesting the cultivation of crops on the Yarmouk River, claiming it violates water sharing deal, local daily The Jordan Times reported on Sunday.

    The farming activity is slowing the river's water flow and storage at the Wihdeh Dam on the Yarmouk River, Jordan Valley Authority Secretary General Musa Jamaani told a Syrian delegation at a meeting of a technical subcommittee affiliated with the Jordanian-Syrian Committee of the Yarmouk River Basin on Saturday.

    Under agreements signed between the two countries, Syria's share of water from the Wihdeh Dam is 6 million cubic meters (mcm) for agricultural purposes, provided that the dam reaches its full capacity of 110 mcm, said the official.

    The Wihdeh Dam, however, currently holds only 18 mcm, and thus Syria's share declines to 1 mcm. The neighboring country is pumping more than its allocated share to water crops planted all the way from downstream of Wihdeh Dam to Al Raqqad Valley located on the banks of the Yarmouk River, Jamaani said.

    "The river's flow dropped from 1,200 liters per second last year to 900 liters per second currently, which is blamed on the cultivation of crops on the river's banks," said the official.

    Violations of water-sharing agreements were unacceptable, Jamaani noted.

    The Yarmouk is a tributary of the Jordan River, originating in the southeastern slopes of Mount Hermon and forming a boundary between Syria and Jordan for almost 40 km before becoming the border between the kingdom and Israel.

    Jordan is one of the 10 most water-deprived countries in the world. It has an annual water deficit of more than 500 million cubic meters, official estimates showed.

    According to Jamaani, the kingdom is cutting farmers' supplies of water by up to 50 percent to ensure drinking water for residence.