Desk Study on the Opportunities and Implications of Releasing Treated Effluent in the Lower Stretches on the Jordan River and Dead Sea
Publisher: EcoPeace Middle East and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
Author(s): Amanda Lounsbury, Dina Kolker, and Revital Bookman
Date: 2020
Topics: Renewable Resources
Countries: Israel, Jordan, Palestine
The Dead Sea, bordered by Jordan, Israel, and Palestine, is a natural wonder with unique geological, ecological, and historical importance that is valued world-wide by the general public, both locally and globally, as well as by scientists, scholars, and environmentalists. Its hypersaline waters are rich in minerals that have therapeutic benefits and considerable economic value. Its unique desert climate, fresh spring waters, vegetation and biota, and majestic archeological sites attract millions of tourists that support communities from all over the region.
However, the Dead Sea basin ecosystem is suffering from several major threats: unsustainable water management policies that originated in the early 1960s, water diversion from the Upper Jordan River, the principal feeder of the Dead Sea, in addition to the construction of many upstream dams, together decrease the water flow into the Dead Sea. The construction of artificial evaporation ponds by the Israeli and Jordanian mineral extraction industries at the southern end of the Dead Sea have contributed to this drastic decline in water flow and magnified the impact of the shortages in water availability. Additionally, natural factors such as increased evaporation due to temperature rise as part of the global climate change have an adverse impact on the Dead Sea ecosystem. These impacts on the Dead Sea as a terminal lake with a sensitive water balance clearly represents non-sustainable interventions and an ecological catastrophe, which requires immediate attention. Currently, the lake level drops more than one meter per year, and since the 1960s the level has fallen tens of meters from its natural level, which resulted in more than 6,000 sinkholes, exposure of the marginal shallow lake floor, and rapid incision along its retreating landscape. This environmental catastrophe destroys the natural environment and puts in danger the future existence of infrastructure and tourism.
Accordingly, the Dead Sea needs an additional 700-800 MCM/yr to stabilize its level (Allan et al., 2014). Despite the various initiatives brought to the table to save the Dead Sea environment, including the Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal project, these efforts have not provided a clear outline for stabilizing the sea level and sustaining its unique ecology. EcoPeace Middle East urges that a combination of measures is required to stabilize the Dead Sea. A proposed partial solution for the Dead Sea shrinkage is to increase water flow from different sources through the Lower Jordan River. This solution, proposed by EcoPeace, will help to rehabilitate the Jordan River before entering the Dead Sea and sustaining the Dead Sea water balance. Stabilization using treated wastewater from the of utilizing treated wastewater from Israel, Jordan, and Palestine to rehabilitate the Lower Jordan and partially contribute to stabilizing the Dead Sea water balance. This report investigates, through a literature review, the physical, chemical, biological and economic influences of using treated wastewater for partial Dead Sea stabilization.
The results of this report may lead to a new approach to Dead Sea stabilization and Jordan River rehabilitation as well as increase the feasibility of the EcoPeace Jordan Valley Master Plan. Furthermore, the results of this study may inform rehabilitation for other lakes around the world such as Lake Alberta in south Australia, Lake Urmia in Iran, the Aral Sea and Lake Chad that are increasingly saline, desiccating, and shrinking due to climate change and anthropogenic use of their waters. three riparian nations is proposed as an alternative to the scarce fresh water. As such, the purpose of this report is to examine the feasibility.