The implications of the Red Sea-Dead Sea plan.
Israel and Jordan on February 26 signed an agreement to facilitate water-sharing and address the depletion of the Dead Sea, which is receding at a rate of about a metre per year. The 900 million dollar World Bank-sponsored 'Seas Canal' deal consists of two main aspects: local water exchange deals, with Jordan providing Israel with desalinated water from Aqaba in exchange for bluewater from the Sea of Galilee in the north; and saltwater transfer from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. The Palestinian Authority is not party to the agreement, and awaits a separate deal with Israel.
Prospects for Palestinian-Israeli water negotiations have drastically decreased.
Jordan will still need to agree further desalination and cooperation deals in order to meet demand.
Water saving efforts will be pushed aside in favour of much more costly desalination.
Desalination powered by burning fossil hydrocarbons accelerates global warming.
