The Dead Sea	Dead Sea Shoreline

The Dead Sea is unique because it is the saltiest body of water on earth located at the lowest point on earth. Thousands of tourists each year visit the Dead Sea for the extraordinary experience of practically sitting on the water. The Dead Sea area also contributes substantially to the Israeli and Jordanian economies due to the lucrative minerals harvested from the southern basin of the Dead Sea. It is a region that must be maintained for the economic and environmental survivability of the surrounding countries.

Shoreline Increasing	Surrounding Desert Area

What is now being proposed to the region is known as the Red-Dead Sea canal which would pump water from the Red Sea in the south to the Dead Sea along the border between Jordan and Israel. Other routes have been proposed as well, but the Red-Dead Sea route has several advantages.

The first advantage the Red-Dead Sea canal would provide is fresh water to Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian people. Along the proposed pipeline from the Red to the Dead Sea would be a desalination plant which would turn the Red Sea water into fresh water for the use in Jordan and Israel. Israel and Jordan currently live in a deficit of fresh water, meaning that the demand for fresh water exceeds the supply. Jordan is so dry that in Amman, the capital city of Jordan, residents only have fresh water in their homes every other day of the week. Israel is in the forefront of desalination technology and would utilize this technology to supply fresh water to the region.

Another advantage of the Red-Dead Sea canal would be Hydro-Power generation. The Dead Sea is approximately 1200 Feet below sea level, so at some point along the canal would be a hydro-power generation facility propelled by the falling water and generating environmentally friendly electricity to the surrounding countries.

The last advantage to the Red-Dead Sea canal would be the groundbreaking cooperation between the only Jewish nation in the region with one of its Arab neighbors. Also known as the “Peace Canal”, the proposed project would develop strong political, economic, and environmental ties between the Jordanians, Israelis, and the Palestinians.

When fresh water is produced from Sea water what remains is called Brine. The Brine will be pumped into the Dead Sea and the fresh water will go to residents of the surrounding countries. Among some of the environmental concerns to be studied is the effect that salty discharge from the desalination plant will have when mixed with the Dead Sea.

Another environmental concern is the effect that pumping large amounts of sea water out of the Red Sea will have on the beautiful coral reefs in the Gulf of Aqaba. The Red Sea is a resort area because of the many people who wish to dive down and sea the colorful coral reefs. These reefs must have clear warm water to survive and a pumping station on the Gulf would disrupt their fragile ecosystem.

The World Bank is currently raising funds to do a feasibility study on the entire project. This is only the first step of many to the building of the canal. The first part of the study will be economic viability and the second part will be the environmental impact on the region. An open forum will be held in Israel on August 12 to discuss the parameters of the study.

Politicians, economists, environmentalists, and residents may not all agree on the method to correct the growing Dead Sea concern, but they do all agree that something must be done in order to save the Dead Sea.