Opinion: Dr. Assaf Rosenthal, who was the director of the nature reserve in Ein Gedi and knows the Dead Sea well, calls for other solutions to supply water to Jordan
It turns out that the unnecessary and expensive megalomaniac project of the Sea Canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea is in the territory of Jordan continues to breathe and even awakens to new life,
A few decades ago, a well-known leader came up with an idea he called the "Peace Initiative". The project was supposed to "save the dying Dead Sea and strengthen Israel's ties with the Hashemite kingdom," according to the leader.
In the meantime, many years have passed, A review committee of the World Bank determined Because "the project is not economic, endangers the environment and its contribution to the Dead Sea is doubtful or negative".
Environmental bodies, farmers in the Arava, experts on the Dead Sea and others ruled that the project will harm the environment, endanger agriculture in the Arava and cause a change in the composition of the water in the Dead Sea. All the assertions and facts did not change the direction of the current government, which consists of megalomaniacs who do not consider the facts, this under the justification of maintaining power in the Hashemite kingdom.
I don't pretend to understand politics, but the justification is based on Jordan's need for water and the promise to fulfill this need. Now it is appropriate to check how this promise can be fulfilled without causing economic and environmental damage.
The failures of the water authority have already been addressed by better and greater people than me. The correction of these failures will put the state of Israel's water system in a reasonable state, and then it will also be possible to supply water to the Jordanians without injury or damage.
The government has a plan to flow water from the Mediterranean Sea. But in any case, if the warming does not stop, most likely the Dead Sea will continue to die, but its dying will last longer.
Either way, the bombastic statements of the Minister for Cooperation about "stopping the drying up of the Dead Sea and the formation of sinkholes" originate from a lack of understanding of the issue at best. The Minister suspends the stoppage in the sea canal and the flow of brine from the desalination plant to the northern basin of the Dead Sea. According to the plan, about 200 million cubic meters will be flowed every year, this amount will cover the northern basin with a layer of 50 cm every year, the evaporation is more than a meter every year, so in the best case the drying will slow down but certainly not stop. And as for the sinkholes, here too the minister is wrong, because even if the drying stops (tomorrow) the sinkholes will continue to form without interruption.
There is no doubt that it is necessary to strengthen relations with the neighbor to the east, but there is no doubt that it is right to do so without economic and environmental damage.
- Ministry of Environmental Protection: The World Bank Sea Canal will not restore the Dead Sea, but may even endanger it
- We thought we got rid of the Jordan Sea Canal, so we thought. The World Bank still thinks otherwise
- "On trains, canals and ports"
- The Leader of Peace - War on the Environment (update and details)
- The Sea Canal - postponement?
23 תגובות
I think there are some inaccuracies here. 1. The amount proposed to be discharged is about one-sixth of what is needed to overcome the annual water drop of 1.2 meters is a pilot!!! designed to test the effects of seawater mixing. (There is a claim for red algae, and a claim for a layer of lime). Therefore the claim that the current discharge will not solve the desiccation of the sea is at best erroneous. If the pilot is successful, if it turns out that the fears of the sea's grounding or bleaching were exaggerated, or if, alternatively, a biochemical solution is found to deal with the phenomena, the amount of discharge will probably increase in order to follow up and in an optimistic scenario to prevent the drying up.
2. And in the same breath, the pilot is designed to deal with whether the ecological concern - because according to the Ministry of Environmental Quality - in the link attached to the article - the amount of discharge in question will make it possible to test the phenomena in a limited way without endangering the Dead Sea. The pilot will probably also make it possible to find solutions if the concern is indeed justified
Focus on things.
I am attaching a link to an article/list I once wrote on my Facebook against the project, which I also see as a megalomaniacal project:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/nir-orbach/%D7%9E%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A2-%D7%94%D7%97%D7%9C%D7%98%D7%AA%D7%99-%D7%A9%D7%9C%D7%90-%D7%9C%D7%94%D7%A6%D7%91%D7%99%D7%A2-%D7%A2%D7%91%D7%95%D7%A8-%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%9C%D7%97-%D7%9B%D7%A4%D7%9C%D7%90-%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%9D/10150344262972312/
Roi Shalom
Send me an SMS to my computer at 0543336888 (it's not a phone line). I will call you back.
I am forced to act in this way because of various kinds of troublemakers.
Best regards
Life
To my father Blizovsky. Your claim that even a broken clock is right twice every day is a well-known and accepted claim, but it is not certain that it is really true.
explanation:
If it is proven that time is quantized, then the most likely chance is that even a broken clock is not right at all, not even twice a day, and with a very low chance it is possible that it is right only once a day, and with a much lower chance - twice.
In light of this, I believe that Dr. Assaf Rosenthal's words can also be put to the test of criticism.
And the sooner the better.
Dr. Rosenthal is really wrong.
The Dead Sea received (once 50 years ago) one billion cubic meters of fresh water per year. Today he does not accept them. And there is no way he will receive them in the future. As a result, the level of the Dead Sea drops about 1.20 meters every year. And if it continues like this, then the Dead Sea will simply disappear for good. That is, without the addition of water from any source. There will be no Dead Sea at all. Then the ecological disaster will be much greater. Therefore, adding water from the Mediterranean Sea (or Red Sea) is necessary to leave anything there at all. Better something a little different, for nothing at all...
Roi Rosen, it is also possible to engage in Yedioth Aharonot and Meariv, in fact, until today's Israel arrived, this was the only option to engage in... If there is anything that is difficult for socialists from the left, it is to exist in a competitive market...
I think the last thing that can be said about Assaf is that he supports the Dead Sea factories. If you read all of his articles you will see that he directs many arrows of criticism at them. Even a broken clock is right several times a day and there is no connection between the concern of the factories and the concern of environmentalists like Assaf.
my father
The content of the article seems fundamentally false. Fake-science.
To my bad feeling, the writer is using his academic degree to make claims, without any scientific and logical reasoning.
It is impossible to get rid of the impression that behind the author's tendentious arguments are interested parties with great economic power.
It is not clear from where and based on what experiment the writer derives the "story" (which appears to me to be far-fetched and false) about plaster that will allegedly fill the Dead Sea as a result of mixing its waters with sea water?
Precisely the only real danger involved in the sea canal plant, the one the writer does not mention, and that is the danger of contamination of the groundwater along the canal's path, with seawater that will leak and seep into the ground. This problem can only be solved by pumping desalinated water through a canal into the Dead Sea.
And finally:
Can be done, not one channel but two. One from the Red Sea and the other from the Mediterranean Sea.
Haim Sh., how do we get in touch with you?
This is exactly the problem with the childish attitude. What was supposed to be a joint project under Israeli control and control, became, because of the opposition to everything whatsoever, a Jordanian project accompanied by the World Bank. Since the kingdom needs water and needs to be independent, sometimes it's better to join and manage than to be stuck alone without any ability to supervise
I suggest giving up the cynicism. To the best of my recollection (I am not an expert and have not written papers on the subject). They poured sea water and plaster came out. But it is not about the flow of sea water. This is about injecting the brine that will be left after desalination and will be similar to the composition of the Dead Sea. To the best of my memory, the story with the salting of the willows is also negligible. At the time, farmers were offered a cob for every cob that would become contaminated and offered many solutions that limit the risk. There should be no contamination. After all, oil is transported through pipelines. in brief. In short, there is a greater environmental price in my opinion for the drying up of the Dead Sea and its loss. And in my opinion, Dr. Rosenthal's opinion article was sloppy and simply not at a level that meets the standards of scientific publication. You can just fool around in Israel today
Roy
You're right! I propose to flow the water of the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee as well. After all - originally they were connected...
Pay attention to my response from:
January 28, 2013 at 23:30 p.m
The World Bank does not care about the damage to the Dead Sea by mixing two types of water. He is only interested in profit. The Technion in the Faculty of Environmental Engineering found the solution, but for political reasons they are not implementing it. The faculty even registered patents on the matter.
The mixing of the Dead Sea with sea water is an irreversible ecological crime. So it is desirable that those in charge of environmental quality treat the issue more seriously and not play ego games. Please read the works of Prof. Dan Zaslavsky and you will understand that there is going to be an irreversible ecological crime here.
As of today, I have all the knowledge to produce treated water for discharge into the Dead Sea in an unlimited amount using two technologies. One, desalination at zero cost, the second, use of solar energy. The technologies were tested and models were even prepared at the Technion for proof. But those with an interest have delayed the implementation for over 30 years. Call me and you will get details.
A really disappointing list. After all, originally the seas were connected. The profits from the sea canals are clear, including connecting the West Bank and Gaza, agriculture, tourism along the lines, electricity, seawater desalination, level maintenance, and more. It is not clear what the disadvantages are. The main opponent is the Dead Sea factories because it may hurt their livelihood. Why the writer is associated with them is not clear, but it is interesting to check.
To all those asking questions and seeking arguments and explanations:
All the answers have already been given in previous articles
and can be read in the links at the end of the list,
Very interesting and well written.
I'm glad there are articles like this.
Although it would have been desirable to explain the claim that the creation of sinkholes will never stop.
Nor has it been explained which is worse, that the salt lake will completely disappear and become a wasteland of sinkholes, or that water will flow into it from somewhere.
Let's say that if this article is the argument against... then the argument is weak, unclear and unexplained.
I don't think so little information appeared in the cons column.
Assaf, as usual, writes about important things but does not explain or is not understood (at least to me).
several questions-
1. Why won't the sinkholes stop if the level starts to rise?
2. It is clear that if the Dead Sea is filled with sea water instead of Kinneret water then the composition of the water will change, in the current situation there is no other solution (or I didn't understand) that would cause the Dead Sea to be filled. Even the Kinneret was in deficit. What is so bad about changing the composition of the water?
3. 200M Mak is only from the desalination plant? Can't stream anymore? Not through the factory? This will help lower the sea level that is expected to rise.
4. How will agriculture be affected?
5. Regardless, isn't the Ein Gedi water bottle factory destroying the reserve? Why don't they import mineral water and ban bottling water in Israel?
Assaf, as usual, writes about important things but does not explain or is not understood (at least to me).
several questions-
1. Why won't the sinkholes stop if the level starts to rise?
2. It is clear that if the Dead Sea is filled with sea water instead of Kinneret water then the composition of the water will change, in the current situation there is no other solution (or I didn't understand) that would cause the Dead Sea to be filled. Even the Kinneret was in deficit. What is so bad about changing the composition of the water?
3. 200M Mak is only from the desalination plant? Can't stream anymore? Not through the factory? This will help lower the sea level that is expected to rise.
4. How will agriculture be affected?
5. Regardless, isn't the Ein Gedi water bottle factory destroying the reserve? Why don't they import mineral water and ban bottling water in Israel?
The article would have benefited if it had avoided epithets like megalomaniacs. Does not add to the analysis of the problem, softens the language, makes the issue personal and maybe even introduces a political opinion into the issue. makes it difficult to read.
I would like to clarify that
The editor of the "Hidan" site gives the reference to "the chosen ones"
Because where I wrote:
"The current government, which is made up of impersonalists, idiots (and Borim)"
The editor reduced it to "megalomaniacs".
Where I wrote:
"They originate from a lack of understanding of the subject at best or sometimes at best",
The editor narrowed it down to: "a lack of understanding of the subject at best"...
Therefore again:
Inaction = personal inaction. lack of understanding = ignorance,
The one who by virtue of his position did not prevent the destruction of the Dead Sea comes today and preaches against a simple and brilliant idea to save it. If it were possible then Rosenthal would also go against the law of the combined instruments. And against the law of gravity. We need someone named Alexander who will take care of all the foreign and petty local interests with one swing of a sword
God, what a shallow article