Red Sea - Dead Sea Water Conveyance Feasibility Study and Environmental and Social Assessment

The declining water level of the Dead Sea has far reaching environmental, social, and economic consequences for the Dead Sea region and beyond. The water level of the Dead Sea has fallen over twenty meters in less than fifty years. The current rate of decline is approximately one meter per year. The consequent impacts on the region of the shrinking Sea are varied, numerous, and may soon become irreversible.


On May 22, 2005 at the annual World Economic Forum - Dead Sea, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority (in this website hereinafter referred to as the "beneficiary parties") announced their agreement and commitment to study the feasibility of transferring water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea as a solution to stop the rapidly declining level of the Dead Sea. The three parties cooperatively prepared the terms of reference (TOR) for the Feasibility Study and Environmental and Social Assessment (the "Study") of a water transference from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. In a jointly signed letter, the beneficiary parties requested the World Bank to coordinate donor support and manage the Study. The World Bank agreed and will manage the Study in accordance with its established policies and guidelines. This web site provides information on the status of the Study process and will, in due course, serve as a channel for public information, dialogue, and input.
Water transport from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea in order to prevent further decline of the Dead Sea's water level requires an in-depth feasibility study. The beneficiary parties share a vision for saving the Dead Sea. This vision involves conveying water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea to reverse environmental degradation and generate water and energy at affordable prices for the region. This vision represents a symbol of peace and cooperation in the Middle East. The TOR prepared by the beneficiary parties stipulates a comprehensive investigation of the environmental, economic, social and technical implications of this water conveyance concept.
The Dead Sea is a site of exceptional historic, cultural, economic, and environmental importance for the Middle East and for the world. Furthermore, the Study offers a major opportunity for those who live in the lower Jordan Valley to work together and strengthen relationships among neighbors while addressing an environmental and water scarcity challenge of regional and global interest and significance. The beneficiary parties believe that the Study process itself promises to contribute to further cooperation.
The Study will consider environmental, economic, technical, social, and financial aspects of the concept, and shall not prejudice the riparian rights of any of the beneficiary parties.