قناة البحرين red sea-dead sea conveyance red sea-dead sea conduit By: Ahmed Marei

1. Red – Dead Sea
Water Conveyance Study
By : Ahmed Marei
Prof. Dr. Atef Al-Kharabsheh
May 11, 2014
Al-Balqa Applied University
Faculty of Agriculture Technology
Water Resources and Environmental
Management Department
Water Resource
Second Semester 2013/2014
Presentation Title :

2. “Dead Sea” : Background & Importance
• The Dead Sea has been a centerpiece in the history
of many cultures and religions for centuries. The
region around the Dead Sea is considered by some as
the cradle of human culture and civilization. It
features numerous archeological and historic sites.
• The Dead Sea is considered the lowest spot on earth
– about 400 meters below ea level. Its water is ten
times more saline than ocean water, making it one of
the saltiest water bodies in the world.

3. Cont.
• The Dead Sea’s distinctive chemical composition
and fresh/salt water interface have created a
unique ecology of international importance.
• The tourism and recreation have made a major
contribution to the economy of the region.
Additionally, potash mining and processing (and
related chemicals) are major industries on both
sides of the Sea.

4. The Red – Dead Sea Water Conveyance
Concept
• is a proposed conduit (pipes and brine canal) which
would run from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. It will
provide potable water to Jordan, Israel and
the Palestinian Authority, bring sea water to stabilize
the Dead Sea water level, to promote the rehabilitation
of the Dead Sea. and generate electricity to support the
energy needs of the project.
• The three Beneficiary Parties (the Government of Israel,
the Government of Jordan and the Palestinian
Authority)

5. Cont.
• The transfer saline water over 200 kilometers from the
Red Sea north to the Dead Sea. The water would first
be pumped up 250 meters from the Red Sea, and then
would provide hydroelectricity as it travels down to
the Dead Sea (elevation 423 meters below mean sea
level).
• A desalination plant would be built by the Dead Sea to
send freshwater up to Amman (elevation about 800
meters above mean sea level). The brine waste from
desalination and extra seawater would be disposed of
in the Dead Sea in order to restore and stabilize its
water level.

6. Why the Dead Sea shrink?
• Drought because of the diversion of the
Jordan River to Lake Tiberias.
• Divert water from rivers and valleys to Jordan
King Abdullah Canal (East Ghor Canal).
• The spread of factories and extract salts which
consume 250-500 million cubic meters.

7. Reasons of the Project?
• Transfers seawater from the Red Sea to the Dead
Sea Basin to save the Dead Sea from
environmental degradation and declination in
water level where water level has fallen from 394
meters below sea level in the 1960s to about 423
meters below sea level as of end 2012.(0.8-1.2
m/year )
• the Sea’s water surface area has been reduced by
one third: from roughly 950 square kilometers to
637 square kilometers today
1.Shrinking of dead sea

10. 2. Save the Dead Sea from environmental degradation
• The decline of the Dead Sea level is creating major
environmental problems in: the creation of sink holes
that endanger structures, plantations and roads;
receding sea shores and the creation of mud plains;
and other effects on flora and fauna of the region.

11. 3. Generates hydropower by exploiting the difference
in elevation between the two seas
4. Makes potable water through large scale
desalination

12. History of Project
• The Red Sea Dead Sea conduit was proposed in
the end of the 1960s and was analyzed as part of
the peace process between Israel and Jordan.
• On May 9, 2005 Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian
Authority signed an agreement to go ahead with
a feasibility study for the Two Seas Canal. The
agreement was signed on the Dead Sea by
Jordanian Water Minister Raed Abu Soud, Israeli
Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and
Palestinian Planning Minister Ghassan al-Khatib.

13. Cont.
• The World Bank has announced that it would release a
feasibility study of water conveyance with an
environmental and social assessment as well as a study of
alternatives (see the drafts on Study Program website:
www.worldbank.org/rds).
• The alternatives studied include a restoration of the
Jordan River to its natural flow and taking no action, as
well as numerous other alternatives.
• In August 2013, Jordanian government announced that it
would move ahead with the first phase of a project. On
December 9, 2013, an agreement to build the pipeline
was signed by Israel, Jordan and Palestine.

14. Environmental Impact
• The environmental group Friends of the Earth FoE Middle
East has protested against the approval of the project, 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. These effects include:
1. Damage to the unique natural system of the Dead Sea, due to
mixing its water with Red Sea water, This includes changes in
water salinity, change in water evaporation rates, changes in
the composition of bacteria and algae which inhabit the sea
surface, chemical changes in the rocks which surround the
water,

15. Cont.
2. Damage to the coral reefs of the Gulf of Aqaba,
due to water pumping.
3. Damage to the aquifer of the Arabah, due to
contamination of groundwater with water from
the Red Sea due to pipeline rupture and
leakage.
 Israeli environmental NGOs say that the
reestablishment of the Jordan River to its
natural state was a better solution to the
decline of the Dead Sea than the proposed
canal.