Jordan Times
Monday, March 16, 1998
Project to link Red, Dea seas awaiting $10m for
feasibility study
By Francesca Ciriaci
AMMAN — After receiving long-awaited Israeli support, the
Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal (RSDSC) project is currently awaiting $10
million in funding for a comprehensive feasibility study,
Minister of Water Munther Haddadin said Sunday.
Jordan has long been pushing for the construction of a canal to
connect the Red Sea to the Dead Sea for the vital purpose of
water desalination, as well as generating modest amounts of
electricity.
Benefiting from the 410-metre difference in altitude between the
two seas, Red Sea water will reach the Dead Sea by gravity flow,
Mr. Haddadin told the Jordan Times.
However, "it would still be necessary to pump up the water
from the Red Sea, and such an operation would further increase
the pressure already generated by the difference in altitude
between the two seas.
"Such pressure would be enough to desalinate the water of
the RSDSC through hydro-osmosis, while residual pressure would be
used to generate electricity," the minister explained.
The amount of electricity generated, however, "would be
barely sufficient to pump the fresh water to the urban
centres," he said.
Israel, which had long opposed the RSDSC project, capitulated
during HRH Crown Prince Hassan's visit to Tel Aviv last week.
A joint communiqué issued on March 10 by Prince Hassan and
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu announced that
"the two sides expressed their support for pursuing the idea
of the RSDSC, subject to the positive analysis of the
international financial institutions as to the economic
feasibility of the project."
"The idea originated here back in 1976, gathered a bit of
momentum and was briefly studied in 1979-1980. It was also the
subject of our negotiations with Israel during the peace talks,
as a major component of the Jordan Rift Valley Development (JRVD)
project," recalled Mr. Haddadin, who was also a member in
the Jordanian delegation to the peace talks.
"But, while the JRVD was included as a separate article in
the [1994] peace treaty — Art. 20, on "Rift Valley
Development" — somehow the idea of connecting the Red
and Dead seas was always seen with lack of enthusiasm on the part
of the Israelis," Mr. Haddadin noted.
Israel was advocating its own idea of connecting the Dead Sea
with the Mediterranean.
"But when the two schemes are compared, the benefit-cost
ratio is much higher in the RSDSC project," he noted, adding
that "the benefits [of the RSDSC] go beyond those of just a
canal connecting the two seas, and would include other economic
gains, by creating a retention pond for desert rain, and
developing new communities in an otherwise almost uninhabited
territory."
Most importantly, the minister said, the cost of the RSDSC
project would be much lower than the cost of a canal linking the
Mediterranean and the Dead seas.
As for the environmental impact of the project, Mr. Haddadin
maintained that "speculation will be proved or disproved by
the feasibility study."
A $3 million pre-feasibility study on the RSDSC was recently
conducted by a consortium of U.S., Italian, and British
consultants.
According to official figures, Jordan's renewable water resources
are 750 million cubic metres (MCM) a year — well below the
annual consumption of one billion cubic metres.
The ministry of water also estimated that the Kingdom's water
deficit for all uses will grow from about 222 MCM in 1995 to 251
MCM by the year 2011.
Earlier this month, Jordan secured $630 million in grants and
loans for water projects to be implemented in the next five years
within the framework of an overall 14-year Water Sector
Investment Programme.
Additional water supplies were central to the peace treaty with
Israel, according to which the Jewish state was to provide 200
MCM of water annually to Jordan, mostly from the Yarmouk River,
and 50 MCM from additional sources.
While the first amount awaits the construction of new dams on the
Yarmouk, the latter was the subject of a tense dispute last year
following Israel's failure to honour its obligations.
A round of bilateral discussions were crowned by a summit between
His Majesty King Hussein and Mr. Netanyahu in Aqaba last May,
during which "it was agreed that Israel would supply Jordan
with half that amount for the time being, until a desalination
plant was set up," said Mr. Haddadin.
"Since then, we have been receiving the 25 MCM regularly and
without interruption. We are now discussing with the Israelis the
set-up of that desalination plant, and we have formed a core
group that can look into the feasibility of the project, and then
jointly we will look for financing to realise it. When that
happens, we will be receiving the 50 MCM agreed upon," Mr.
Haddadin stated.
He added that, though no site has yet been decided for the
desalination plant, "logically it should be on Israeli soil,
because the springs are on Israeli soil."
"However, we are open to all suggestions."