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Israel, Jordan present historic Dead Sea project to potential investors

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At a conference yesterday in the Jordanian Red Sea resort of Aqaba, Israeli and Jordanian officials presented a timetable for a major water-sharing project, designed to help meet both countries’ water needs and replenish the dwindling Dead Sea which they both border.

A tender for the joint Israel-Jordan project was published in December. A new canal will be constructed which 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 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 Lake Kinneret to help address its water shortage.

At yesterday’s gathering, a tentative timetable was presented to investors, including representatives from the United States and World Bank. It included stabilising water levels in the Dead Sea and then increasing quantities of water, including the costs to Israel and Jordan.

Israel was represented by a Regional Cooperation Ministry delegation led by Deputy Regional Cooperation Minister Ayoub Kara, Director General Hashem Hussein and project administration director Maya Eldar. Karoub said: “This is a very significant joint civilian project between Israel and Jordan that will improve the lives of peoples in the region and is therefore deserving of the donor countries’ support.”