The Leader of Peace - War on the Environment (update and details)

Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians signed an agreement to build a canal from the Gulf of Eilat to the Dead Sea that will pass entirely through Jordanian territory to avoid the scrutiny of the green bodies. The damages from laying a thin pipe will be the same as those of a large pipe, and what kind of pilot is this exactly?

According to the news in the media: "Jordan returned from its refusal to participate significantly financially in the project to transport water from the Gulf of Eilat to the Dead Sea, (for some reason, none of the commenters know the difference between the Gulf of Eilat and the Red Sea?), and at the UN there was a signing of a "contract" to carry it out. Pilot" with the participation of Minister Silvan Shalom and Jordanian and Palestinian representatives.

According to additional information, the intention now is to build a desalination plant in Aqaba and to flow the brine into the Dead Sea. Since the flow will be a "pilot in a thin pipe" the question arises, what are the "smart" in their regulation? Because it is clear that the cost of laying the "thin pipe" is horribly high. The damage to the area and landscape will be like laying a thick pipe. The "pilot" will change the composition of the water on the one hand and will not change the situation in which the Dead Sea disappeared. It's a shame to add words as everything has already been written.

It is not clear what motivates "politroks" and other megalomaniacs to approach the implementation of an expensive project whose benefit is negative. And the great damages it will cause are known and clear, instead of checking cheaper and less harmful options. It is not clear why the voices of the two regional councils that the project will affect are not heard?
The green bodies in Israel came into the picture late and with a long delay, which is partly due to a lack of information. We will probably have to get used to the fact that preventing environmental damage is not the issue that is foremost in the minds of ministers, politicians (?), and other megalomaniacs. Too bad.

"At a good time" an agreement was signed to establish a "Pilot" to transport water from the Gulf of Eilat to the Dead Sea. The Jordanians "agreed" to receive help from the World Bank in financing the construction of a water desalination facility in Aqaba and the brine in the amount of 100 million cubic meters per year to flow into the Dead Sea.

According to the media, hydroelectric stations will be built along the pipeline to provide electricity for water desalination for the residents of the Arava on both sides of the border.

After I "calmed down" and after I tried (unsuccessfully) to get data and details from the various sources, I would like to respond again when the information I have only comes from the media. I have already written a lot about the "wisdom" of the megalomaniac enterprise and the fact that alternatives were not examined (see links at the bottom of the article). Therefore, the reference is only to "Pilot" according to the news and in geographical order:

Negative impact on the marine environment

"The World Bank will support the financing of the establishment of a seawater desalination plant in Aqaba". A water desalination plant works in Eilat. About one-third of the water is from the sea and two-thirds is brackish water from wells in Arava, of the total amount pumped, about 70% is desalinated water. Since the planned plant in Aqaba is supposed to desalinate seawater, it is clear that the percentage of desalinated water received will be low. Even if we assume that the plant will be more efficient than the one in Eilat, in order to produce 100 million cubic meters of brine, it will be necessary to pump at least 400 million cubic meters of water (each year), although there is a stipulation that the water will be pumped from a depth of 120 meters, it is clear that there will be an acute negative effect on the marine environment,

A question arises, why pray from sea water?
Today Aqaba receives water from local wells and Wadi Rum, in Wadi Rum there are two aquifers, one shallow with fresh water and the other deep with salty fossilized water. Isn't it correct and cheaper to pray with brackish water?

Another news item talks about the fact that "a pilot pipe will be laid that will lead the brine to the north". To mitigate the opposition of the Greens, the pipeline will be placed on the Jordanian side. Are there no natural and environmental values ​​in the Jordanian steppe that would be harmed?

In order to lay the pipeline, roads will be broken, work camps will be established that will pollute their surroundings, dunes will be flattened, salinities will be destroyed, and wadis will be blocked. In the south of the Arabah (on the Jordanian side) flows will damage the wadis and springs that arise... but this is on the Jordanian side... on the Israeli side there is the danger of salting the (open) water reservoirs in the northern Arabah as well as harming the aquifers that supply water to the settlements and if they are already destroying and harming why not transport the maximum amount of water that according to World Bank "You will not damage the Dead Sea"?

Another news reports that "the brine water will be used to generate electricity in hydro-electric stations".
It is worth knowing that between Aqaba and the Dead Sea there is a watershed at a height of about 200 meters. I tried (unsuccessfully) to check how much electricity is needed to raise the water, and how much electricity will be produced, but even without professional data it is clear that if you push water to a height of 200 meters
along 100 km and then drop them to a depth of 600 meters along 100 km, then the most that can be produced will be three times the cost, this without the construction calculations. My little (and ignorant) self thinks that setting up a solar collector field on the Hori plain near Idan would simply be cheaper and more worthwhile, without the environmental hazards.

Another news item talks about the fact that "the electricity will be used for water desalination for the Arava settlements" for the entrepreneurs' information: there is fresh water in the northern Arava, or perhaps the intention is to transport the electricity produced south to operate the desalination plant in Aqaba? For "smart" entrepreneurs the solutions.

The news - "According to the World Bank's inspection, an injection of up to 400 million cubic meters will not harm the unique composition of the Dead Sea water." It is clear that this is an unfounded assertion and that there are political pressures behind it, but let's assume for a moment that this is indeed the case, then the "sages of the generation" will come up and explain to ignorant people like me why not (with almost the same expenses) inject 400 million cubic meters? In order to stabilize the level of the (northern) Dead Sea, about 900 million cubic meters of water is needed every year, which means that 100 million cubic meters (or even 400) will not increase and will not add anything except for the risk of changing the composition of the water, what's more, as the level drops there is less Water and then a smaller amount of salts produced negative changes.

And finally, we will mention that although there are alternative offers, none have been tested. It has already been said that what one fool spoils many sages will not fix, and this time we are talking about many "wise men" and therefore we have no choice but to wait for generations to cry.

Too bad

I wrote a lot about the Canal of Seas and the condition of the Dead Sea over the last decade, you are welcome to read and understand that there were warnings but they fell on deaf ears

Previous articles on the topic on the science website:

• Ministry of Environmental Protection: The World Bank Sea Canal will not restore the Dead Sea, but may even endanger it
• "Dead Sea factories prefer to invest in public relations instead of saving the sea"
• The Dead Sea - a proposal for a (partial) solution
• Dr. Assaf Rosenthal's response to the State Comptroller's report from 2006
• Dead Sea Park - make friends with cancer?
• The crimes of the Dead Sea factories and the sins of settlement in the south
• The Sea Canal - postponement?
• The salt harvest