Jordan and Israel sign co-operation agreement to restore water to the Dead Sea

Jordan has signed a bilateral water co-operation agreement with Israel which is aimed at building a pipeline to restore the Dead Sea to address regional water shortages.

The $800m deal follows the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the two countries along with Palestine in December 9, 2013, reports Agence France-Presse.

The project, which has been termed as the ‘Red-Dead’, will involve construction of pipelines connecting the Red Sea to the Dead Sea.

As per the plan, four pipelines will be built under the project, which, when operational, will have a capacity to deliver two billion m³ of water.

According to Jordan’s Water Minister Hazem Nasser, the first phase of the project will have an annual capacity to pump 300 million m³ from the Red Sea.

While some of it will directly be transferred to the Dead Sea, the rest will be desalinated and shared between Israel and Palestine.

Construction of a desalination facility has also been planned at Aqaba in Jordan, which is expected to offer water services to both the countries.

The remaining water from the desalination process with high salt content will be coursed into the Dead Sea.

Around 30 million m³ of desalinated potable water every year will be shared with Palestine.

The Dead Sea, which is the lowest and saltiest water body in the world, is projected to go dry by 2050. Diversion of incoming water from the Jordan River said to have resulted in shrinking of the water body since the 1960s.

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Image: Jordan partners with Israel to restore water to the Dead Sea. Photo: Courtesy of David Shankbone / Wikipedia