Ghor Haditha, Jordan – Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians are slowly pushing through the tangle of their disputes and suspicions in a race to save a biblical and ecological treasure, the Dead Sea.
The famously salty sea, which lies at Earth’s lowest point, is shrinking. It has receded by some 3 feet a year for the past 25 years, and Jordan and Israel warn that if the trend continues, it will vanish by 2050 along with its unique ecosystem, defeated by river diversions, mineral extraction and natural factors, such as evaporation.
A project to pipe in water from the Red Sea has been held up by disputes between Israel and its neighbors.
“But the ball began to roll a few months ago because of the gravity of the situation and the dangers facing the Dead Sea, which is a unique heritage not only to the countries that border it but to the whole world,” said Mohammed Thafer al-Alem, Jordan’s water minister.
The urgency is made clear by a dramatic side effect: sinkholes.
These yawn open in a flash, leaving pits 100 feet deep or more in the sponge-like terrain. At Ghor Haditha, a Jordanian village of 6,000 people on the Dead Sea’s southern tip, signs warn of the peril and huge holes dot the vegetable fields.
The sinkholes happen because underground aquifers shrink, and salt left by receding Dead Sea waters erodes the earth.
Adding historical relevance, the Dead Sea, or Salt Sea, is mentioned in the Old Testament. The sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are said to have stood on its banks, and from nearby Mount Nebo, Moses reputedly first saw the Promised Land.
The placid, sun-baked lake, surrounded by spectacular desert cliffs, has also become a tourist attraction for Jordan and Israel because of its curative waters and black mud. Five-star hotels are sprouting on its shores, creating pollution problems.
The Dead Sea lies nearly 1,400 feet below sea level. It is 42 miles long, up to 11 miles wide and more than 1,000 feet deep. With salinity of about 30 percent – more than eight times that of oceans, it is considered the world’s saltiest body of water. It is bounded by Jordan in the east and Israel and the West Bank in the west.
