Dead Sea is dying

In prea putinele sambete cand sunt acasa la Ierusalim, ma sui inmasina si in cca. 10 minute clima si peisajul se schimba, am plecatspre soare rasare, spre Marea Moarta. Cobor rapid serpentinele, dela cca 800 de metrii deasupra nivelului marii ajung in 20 de minutela borna care marcheaza nivelul 0, adica nivelul marilor si oceanelor(si unde un beduin cu o camila asteapta turisti pentru o poza de pusin rama). Dupa inca 15 minute sunt deja pe malul marii, pe drumulcare duce pana la Eilat si mai departe pana la Sharm El Sheih. Darma opresc pe lplaja numita "Mineral" unde un bazin cu izvoare desulf fac minune pentru piciorul meu cotonogit. Peisajul esteuluitor, lunatic, undeva exista umbra lui Lot, Sodoma (plina deHoteluri) si Gomora, unde o fi ea.Nivelul Marii Moarte scade in fiecare an. Odata alimentata de apeleIordanului, astazi nu mai primeste cantitatea de apa necesaramentinerii nivelului, si incet incet piere. Trist.Pun pentru informatii interesante un material aparut astazi in Ha-Aretz. Sunt pana la urma optimist, dezastrul va fi oprit.:


No quick fixes for the Dead Sea

By Zafrir Rinat (Ha Aretz)

"The desert and the barren hills gleam painfully in the sun, aroundthe Dead Sea, and there is no pleasant thing or living creature uponit or about its borders to cheer the eye. It is a scorching, arid,repulsive solitude. A silence broods over the scene that isdepressing to the spirits. It makes one think of funerals anddeath."This was Mark Twain's impression of the Dead Sea's environs. Twain,who actually enjoyed bathing in the sea itself, would probably besurprised by the abundance of activity at the place that so deeplydepressed him. Nowadays factories, hotels and communities stretchalong the sea's shores.However, their fate - and that of regional plans - are unclear atthe moment. A report in circulation says the region must bedeveloped completely differently than is currently planned. Thereason: Unlike as in Twain's days, dropping water levels are causingthe Dead Sea to disappear gradually, and the surrounding area isbeing destroyed as a result.This report, "The Dead Sea Basin Policy Paper," was commissioned bythe government and prepared by the Ministry of Environment, theGeological Institute, the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies'Center for Environmental Policy, and environmental planner MotiKaplan. Attached to it is a letter from the Environment Ministrydirector general, Dr. Miki Haran, which contains the report's mainmessage: The Dead Sea's problems will not disappear in the next 30or 40 years, if not longer, and this must be taken into account inregional development plans.No immediate solutionGeologists and water experts have thorougly researched the problemsstemming from the dropping water level, and the report describesthem at length. The water has been declining by about a meter peryear due to the diversion of the Jordan River and its tributaries,which used to flow into the Dead Sea, and the use of the Dead Sea'swater by factories in Israel and Jordan. (The latter is responsiblefor approximately 40 percent of the annual decline.)The most serious side effect of the receding sea is the suddencreation of large sinkholes. In the northern Dead Sea, close to 200sinkholes appear each year, and they have already caused seriousinfrastructure damage and shut down various tourist facilities.Another serious problem is the changes underway in nearby rivers,which are fed primarily by floodwater. In the past, these riversflowed directly into the Dead Sea. But the receding shoreline haschanged the paths of the rivers, which now threaten buildingfoundations and the main highway in the region. Around Nahal David,a major tourist attraction in the area, the river is expected tocause the road to collapse within 25 years.The geologists Dr. Amir Eidelman and Dr. Amos Bein, who were keycollaborators in preparing the policy paper, say these problems willnot disappear quickly, even if the state promptly finds ways tostabilize the water level. One possible solution involves divertingwater from Lake Kinneret back to the Jordan River, and from there tothe Dead Sea. Another option is channeling a large quantity of waterfrom the Gulf of Eilat via Jordanian territory."Channeling water through the Jordan River in the quantities underdiscussion could only slow the process of declining water levels,"says Dr. Bein. "You have to take into account that the influx offresh water would create layers in the sea. The fresh water would beon top, and it would evaporate faster."Bein believes bringing water from Eilat would be more effective, buthe notes that the feasibility studies for such a project could takeclose to 20 years, during which time the water level would continuedropping - and then it would take another 20 years before theproject could restore the sea to its current level, which in and ofitself is problematically low."It is hard for people to understand that there is no immediatesolution to the Dead Sea's problem," says document author GalitCohen, of the Environment Ministry."It has to be clear, no matter what we do, that we will be livingwith this situation for another 20 years," adds Dr. Eidelman.Shuttles to the shoreSo much for the pessimistic part. But the authors of the policypaper say it contains an optimistic message as well. Development ofthe Dead Sea region can be planned in such a way to enablesettlement and tourism even as the water level continues dropping.In maps accompanying the policy paper, the authors illustrate howfar the sea is expected to recede, and where sinkholes are expectedto form as a result. They recommend against building in these areas,near Ein Gedi, Avnat and Mitzpeh Shalem - where several largetourism-related projects, including hotels, baths and beachdevelopment, are in the works. Instead, the report proposesdeveloping to the west of the road running along the Dead Sea. "Ifthey continue to build hotels close to the sea, they will find thearea gradually disappearing and filling with pits," says Bein. "Thisis not how to establish a hotel adjacent to the sea. We suggestmoving to safe ground and having shuttles bring people to bathe."The paper's authors say that in order to promote this approach, amaster plan should be created that defines precisely the areasdesignated for development and the building restrictions. They arenow working on a proposal to be submitted to the government, whichwill delegate future management of the area to various ministries.For example, the paper suggests that the interior and tourismministries survey existing tourist facilities in threatened areasand decide what steps should be taken, including issuing warnings tothe public."We believe it is possible to manage the area properly, and if thereis peace, it can be a regional process," says Eidelman.The process of preparing the Dead Sea policy paper raised the hopesof officials at the Tamar Regional Council, which is responsible forsome of the shoreline communities. They had hoped to receiveguidelines on how to proceed with planned development for the area,and they were sorely disappointed."We think that the policy paper describes the current situationthoroughly and in depth," says the head of the regional council, DovLitwinoff. "However, the significance of the recommendations is thatthe only thing left to do is get compensation and leave, becausethere is no possibility of developing the region. Whoever wrote thedocument understands a lot about geology, but not about tourism.Tourism in the region is based entirely on the sea. They suggest weconcentrate all development in areas far away from it, which areactually located inside nature reserves. Who will let us buildhotels in nature reserves?"The document's authors respond that they marked areas where futurebuilding is indeed possible.Litwinoff and the regional council engineer, Avi Rotem, say tourismdevelopment can be promoted even in areas where there may be pits,by, among other ways, pumping groundwater out of the areas fromwhere the sea has receded. The sweet water dissolves undergroundchunks of salt, forming sinkholes."Other places in the world have sinkholes, and people haven'tabandoned them," says Rotem."You don't need to develop in an area where there already are pitsso long as there are engineering solutions," says Litwinoff. "But incertain areas that the paper's authors feel should not be developed,we can drill to check for salt chunks and assess the risk ofsinkholes.""A multidisciplinary engineering team was recently working in thearea, and it was supposed to set planning guidelines for the DeadSea, including determining what can and cannot be built," saysRotem. "For some reason, they decided the regional council shouldfinance such a national project, which would cost NIS 15 million. Wedon't have the budget for that, and as a result the team'soperations were halted.""If there are funds, then there will be solutions, such as buildingdesalination plants, which would enable the transfer of water fromLake Kinneret to the Dead Sea," adds Litwinoff. "This would notreverse the situation, but would moderate the drop in the waterlevel."