Red Sea to protect Dead Sea of drying up
Submitted by Krasimir Boyanov on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 05:31.
A channel will unite Red with Dead Sea. The project's aim is to protect the saltiest water pool on the planet of drying up, reported the French daily newspaper Le Figaro.
According to the details of the publication the project is supported by the French Development Agency, the World Bank and the French President Nicolas Sarkozy will have to remind about the project during his visit in Israel at the end of June.
The surface of the Dead Sea has decreased threefold since 1970. The waters of the river Jordan, the only source of water for this sea, are actively used and can not fully supply the sea. If the situation does not change, it may dry up until the middle of the century, experts forecast.
The development of technical, economic and environmental justification of the project will begin soon and will be controlled by the French company Coyne et Bellier, together with the British ERM.
The plan, known as "Red Dead", will contribute not only to saving of Dead Sea but also it may resolve basically the problem of shortage of water in the region.
The standing growth of population, which means more consumption of water, has led to reduction in water stocks in lakes.
"Only in Jordan the annual water deficit is 500 million cubic meters", commented Musa Zhumaani, General Secretary of the Agency, which works to restore the valley of the river Jordan.
In some districts of Jordan's capital Amman water is fed once every two days. "This project is indispensable to us", added Uri Shani, a representative of the Israeli office for water resources. "This would be one way to show that some things can be done with joint efforts", emphasized Shaddad Attili, an official from the Palestinian agency for water resources.
Representatives of these countries unanimously call the project named "The channel of peace".
The draft project provides for the construction of a pumping station at the Red Sea coast. It aims to upload water, which will run to the Dead Sea, due to the gradient of almost 180 kilometers channel. The power of the water flow should be suffice for the construction of a power plant that supplies energy for a processing plant.
This plant will process 900 million cubic meters of sea water, two thirds of which will be destined for Jordan, and one third for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The remaining flow of the channel (700-800 million cubic meters) will flow out in the Dead Sea, in case other projects are not included.
Shimon Peres wants to benefit from the channel's construction by creating artificial lakes, which will contribute to the development of tourist facilities in the heart of the Negev desert.
Yet the project has to overcome lots of obstacles. Many people warn of danger of distorting ecological balance in the Dead Sea if it is given water from the Red Sea.
The price issue of this operation should not be forgotten, too. According to preliminary estimates the project will need around 2.5 - 4 billion USD and a decade for its construction.
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