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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 :

Red – dead sea conveyance

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Page 1: Red – dead sea conveyance

Red – Dead SeaWater Conveyance Study

By : Ahmed MareiProf. 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 :

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“ 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.

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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3. Generates hydropower by exploiting the difference in elevation between the two seas

4. Makes potable water through large scale desalination

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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.

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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.

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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,

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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.

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