The Dead Sea-Red Sea “Peace Conduit”
May 27, 2011
In the most ambitious and detailed proposal yet, officials are considering a massive engineering project that would pump water into the Dead Sea from the Red Sea more than 110 miles to the south.
Water pipes would follow the border between Israel and Jordan, earning the project a conciliatory nickname, “The Peace Conduit,” for its potential to ease tensions between two extremely thirsty nations.
For thousands of years, the surface of Dead Sea fluctuated around a
generally stable level of about 400 meters (1,300 feet) below sea level. By 1950, though, human activities had started to make an impact.
Then, the water level began to drop at a rate of 30 centimeters (about
a foot) each year.
Since 2000, that rate has accelerated to about a meter (more than three feet) a year. Overall, the level of the Dead Sea has dropped by more than 30 meters (nearly 100 feet) since the early 1930s.
“There is no doubt that human intervention in the water balance has
caused the disruption,” said Prof. Jiwchar Ganor, an environment Researchal
geochemist at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. “There’s no
question. It’s our fault.”
Doing nothing has already had profound impacts. As the sea shrinks,
underground layers of salt have dissolved, leading to the sudden
formation of sinkholes, which damage roads and bridges and threaten
lives.
While the idea for pumping water into the Dead Sea is not new, the
discussion has taken on a new urgency recently as global water
shortages rapidly become crises.
Read the full story at Discovery News>>
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