Red Sea could save shrinking Dead Sea
2013-01-17 19:14
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Conservation
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Jerusalem - It is possible to use the Red Sea to
replenish the shrinking Dead Sea, the World Bank has determined after years of
studying whether such a connecting lifeline could work.
The idea of linking the two bodies of water has been
around for more than a century, but the project took on a new urgency when the
shore of the Dead Sea was found to be receding at a rate of more than 1m every
year.
A World Bank feasibility report published this month said
an underground pipeline would be the best way to channel water from the Red Sea
some 180km north to replenish the Dead Sea, which is located at the lowest spot
on earth.
Because of the water current created with the drop in
elevation, it would even be possible to construct desalination and
hydroelectric plants along the route, the World Bank said.
It also mentioned the options of using tunnels and
canals.
Environmental groups blasted the report and warned of
adverse effects, such as the chance of new algae and mineral deposits changing
the colour of the Dead Sea or underground fresh water springs becoming polluted
with seawater.
The World Bank said it found that such negative impacts
could be "mitigated and managed to an acceptable level".
The Dead Sea, technically a lake, is a tourist spot
famous for its salty waters that allow bathers to float.
Its mineral rich mud, used for skin treatment, is sold
around the world.
But as the population increased in the region, water was
diverted from the Jordan River, the Dead Sea's natural water source, for
drinking and agriculture.
The shoreline has in turn shrunk at an accelerating pace,
leaving behind a rocky, desert beach full of dangerous sink holes.
Factories extracting minerals from the lake have also
caused the shift in coastline.
Rehabilitation
The environmental group Friends of the Middle East said
the World Bank study should be scrapped and called for focus to be shifted to
rehabilitating the Jordan River and limiting the factories' operations.
The Red Sea-Dead Sea conduit would run through Jordan and
cost about $10bn, conveying up to 2 billion cubic meters of water a year,
according the report.
Projects of similar scope have been built in South
Africa, Brazil and at the Central Arizona Project in the US.
Further study and discussion among Israel, Jordan and the
West Bank-based Palestinian Authority - the governments bordering the Dead Sea
who in 2005 tapped the World Bank to study the concept -- before any decision
is taken.
If the project is approved, it could be about 10 years
before work actually begins, the World Bank said.
