Page "Dead Sea" Paragraph 63

In May 2009 at the World Economic Forum, Jordan announced its plans to construct the " Jordan National Red Sea Development Project " ( JRSP ).

This is a plan to convey seawater from the Red Sea near Aqaba to the Dead Sea.

Water would be desalinated along the route to provide fresh water to Jordan, with the brine discharge sent to the Dead Sea for replenishment.

As of 2009, the project is in its early phases of planning, with developer and financier selection to be completed by year's end.

The project is anticipated to begin detailed design in early 2010, with water delivery by 2017.

Israel has expressed its support and will likely benefit from some of the water delivery to its Negev region.

Some hydro-power will be collected near the Dead Sea from the dramatic change in elevation on the downhill side of the project.

In October 2009, the Jordanians announced accelerated plans to extract around 300 million cubic meters of water per year from the Red Sea, desalinate it for use as fresh water and send the waste water to the Dead Sea by tunnel, despite concerns about inadequate time to assess the potential environmental impact.