WATANI International
23 August 2009
Egyptian experts, who previously opposed the construction of a canal linking the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, have dropped their reservations over the project after a first-hand study of the venture. During a four-day visit to Jordan this month, an Egyptian delegation visited the area and was briefed on the goals of the multi-billion-dollar Red-Dead Water Conveyance Project and its construction phases.
Earlier reports revealed that some Egyptians feared the projected ‘canal’ between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea would act as a replacement for the Suez Canal. These fears, however, were dispelled once it transpired the water conveyance project was no ‘canal’ in the first place but a mere pipeline. Others were concerned it might affect the Red Sea marine life and coral reefs and would cause severe environmental hazards including an increased threat of earthquakes. It also may alter the water mineral content and the soil structure if the salty water leaked to mix with underground water.
Fresh water source
The blueprint seeks to pump one billion cubic metres of water annually with the aim of raising the water level of the Dead Sea from 408 metres to 315 metres below sea level. The water level in Dead Sea is now shrinking at an alarming rate of more than 90cm every year. The project, which will be funded by the World Bank, the United States, the European Union and other donor countries, has already been approved by the three littoral states—Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. It is seen as a long-term solution to the water problems of these countries, providing some 850 million cubic metres of clean drinking water. Jordan’s quota will be 570 million cubic metres while 380 million cubic metres will be shared between Israel and the Palestinian territories. The Jordanian government especially is keen to carry out that project since it would provide the country with it needs of fresh water, which is now being solely supplied from Lake Tiberius in Israel according to the Agreement of Arabah Valley.
The idea was first proposed by Theodor Herzl who was very enthusiastic about it and mentioned in his novel Altneuland in 1902.
The project should take some six to 10 years to be completed in three phases. The first will extend 180 kilometers of pipeline from the Red Sea at Aqaba to the Dead Sea. In the second phase the water will be pumped up and the steep gradient used to generate electricity which can then be used, among other things, to desalinate the water. The third phase will involve supplying Jordan, Israel and the Palesitnian territories with the fresh water.
Environmentalists worries
The project has environmentalists up in arms. The group Friends of the Earth Middle East has protested against the allegedly premature approval of the Two Seas Canal project by the Israeli government, without sufficient assessment of the project’s impact on the natural environment of the area. The group lists several potential hazardous effects of the project on the unique natural systems of the Red Sea, the Dead Sea and the Arabah; and it will affect tourism in these countries.
Israeli MP and head of Saving the Dead Sea Committee Nitzan Horowitz called upon the Israeli government to stop the works started on the project until its economic, environmental and social results are estimated. He warned that the consequences of pumping water from the narrow Gulf of Aqaba may change the ecosystem of the entire area and damage the unique natural system of the Dead Sea, due to mixing its water with Red Sea water which has a totally different composition. This includes changes in water salinity, change in water evaporation rates, chemical changes in the rocks which surround the water, and loss of unique health benefits that account for much of the tourist attraction to the Dead Sea area.
On 28 June the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth wrote that an agreement was concluded between Jordan and Israel on one hand and the World Bank on the other whereby the bank will provide one billion and 5 million dollars in funding for the first stage of the project. The entire project will cost some 15 billion dollars.