MIDDLE EAST: Ministers from Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority yesterday signed an agreement to pave the way for the construction of a canal that will link the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. The canal will generate electricity, provide fresh water, and prevent the Dead Sea from drying up.
It will draw water from the Red Sea at Aqaba in Jordan, raise it 170 metres above sea level and then let it fall to the Dead Sea which, at 400 metres below sea level, is the lowest place on land in the world.
The project will consist of 175km (105miles) of canal, tunnel and piping, and the electricity provided by the water will provide for pumping the water in the initial stages and power a desalination plant.
There are also plans to construct holiday resorts and a water park along parts of the route.
The first stage will be a $20 million feasibility study partly funded by the World Bank, with the estimated $3 billion cost of the final project also being partly funded by the bank.
Canals linking the Red Sea, Dead Sea and Mediterranean have been discussed since the 19th century, initially for transport, then hydroelectricity and now with the main purpose of desalinating sea water. As the population in the region has exploded over the past 100 years, water has become more and more precious.
As a result, the Dead Sea, a lake 10 times more salty than sea water, has fallen by 20 metres leaving wide areas of salt flats. The level of the sea continues to fall by about 80cm a year.
The battle for control of water resources in dry areas can be fierce. Some analysts believe that this was one of the underlying causes for the 1967 six-day war and Israel's invasion of Lebanon. The former secretary general of the UN, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, has warned that the next wars will be fought over water, not oil.
Control of water rights remains a major factor in relations between all the countries near the Jordan Valley and especially between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Ghassan Khatib, the Palestinian minister for planning, said that all parties were excited and enthusiastic. But Dave Phillips, a water consultant to the Palestinian Authority, warned that the canal might be difficult to justify economically.
"There is maybe a 20-to-30-year lifetime for this project because that is how long it will take for the Dead Sea to regain its natural level. When you consider the vast capital costs, the economic sense is not clear."
Countries with less than 500 cubic metres of water per year are described as suffering from scarcity of water. The UK has around 1,500 cubic metres per person, Israel 340, Jordan 140, and the Palestinian Authority only 70.
The Red Sea-Dead Sea canal is expected to generate 850 million cubic metres of drinkable water, almost the existing annual water use of Jordan, which would be divided between Jordan, Israel and the PA.