Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) — The World Bank has recommended
building a pipeline from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea and a
desalination plant to help stem the loss of water from the salty
inland sea.
Environmentalists derided the World Bank report as
“irresponsible as the conclusions drawn ignore the
environmental risks and the high economic price to pay,” the
Friends of Earth Middle East said in an e-mailed statement.
The World Bank said in a report posted this week on its
website that the cost of the project including a 110-mile (177-
kilometer) pipeline would be about $10 billion and the potential
leakage of seawater into underground aquifers is the biggest
risk. The lowest place on Earth has seen about a third of its
surface area disappear due to drought, agricultural diversion
and pumping to extract minerals for fertilizers.
The recommendation was the result of a study by Jordanian,
Palestinian and Israeli policymakers working under the auspices
of the World Bank that examined various plans to stop the drying
up of the Dead Sea, whose restorative powers have attracted
visitors since biblical times.
“Based on a weighted multi-criteria process, the pipeline
conveyance, combined with a high-level desalination plant, is
the recommended optimum solution,” the World Bank report said.
Preliminary reports from the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water
Conveyance Study Program showed mixing sea water, desalination
brine or both with Dead Sea water entailed risks, especially
when amounts exceed 300 million cubic meters a year.
Algae Blooms?
The final draft of the feasibility report confirms that the
Red Dead project’s dangers include turning the Dead Sea into a
sea of red algae blooms and milky white gypsum formations, the
Friends of Earth Middle East group said.
Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom welcomed the World Bank
report and said in a statement that “from here on in, we will
work to interest people of influence so that this project is
realized.”
Nader Khateeb, Palestinian Director of the FoEME group,
said “instead of dealing with the root cause of the problem and
the real reason for the shrinking of the Sea — the diversion of
the Jordan River and the unlimited use of Dead Sea waters by the
mineral industries — attention was instead placed squarely on
this pipe-dream project.”
The makers of potash, a raw material for fertilizer,
compete for water with a centuries-old tourism industry on the
Dead Sea, which at 414 meters below sea level is Israel’s most
crowded leisure destination. Agriculture also diverts water for
crops from the Jordan River that feeds into the Dead Sea.
Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians will hold six public
consultation meetings starting next month, with feedback and
suggestions to be added to the report probably in April,
according to the World Bank website.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Gwen Ackerman in Jerusalem at
gackerman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
