BICOM

Israel and Jordan yesterday published a joint multi-million pound tender to deliver a major water-sharing project, which is designed to help meet the water needs of both countries and replenish the dwindling Dead Sea, which they both border.

An agreement between Israel and Jordan to undertake the project was agreed in February. A new canal will be constructed that will carry 100 million cubic meters of water each year from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. The latter has seen its surface fall by 22 metres since 1970 and is predicted to dry up by 2050 without intervention. About 80 million cubic meters of water will be desalinated in a plant to be built in the Jordanian Red Sea city of Aqaba. Water will be divided between Jordan and Israel, which will use it to supply the surrounding Arava region. A 200km pipeline in Jordanian territory will deliver water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. The idea for such a scheme was first raised when Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994.

A memorandum of understanding on the entire project was signed in December 2013 and made provision for the Palestinian Authority to purchase 20 million cubic metres of water from Israel. Meanwhile, Jordan will be able to purchase an additional 50 million cubic metres of water from Israel’s Sea of Galilee to help address its water shortage.

Israel’s Interior Minister Silvan Shalom, who signed the original agreement, travelled to Jordan yesterday to announce the tender alongside Jordanian Water Minister Hazim Nasser. The tender, which will be published today is thought to be worth £530million.

Shalom commented, “Today we took an additional historic step to save the Dead Sea.” He added, “The joint international tender to be published tomorrow is proof of the cooperation between Israel and Jordan, and a response to those who cast doubt on whether the canal project would ever go ahead. This is an exceptional environmental and diplomatic achievement.”