Researchers from the Middle East and Europe work together to halt Red Sea degradation

Brussels, 21 Jun 2005

While Jordan, Israel and Palestine are not well known for mutual collaboration, the shrinking of a common water source, the Dead Sea, has brought researchers from each together, along with two EU partners, in order to establish how water management in the region could be improved.

The five research teams are working towards the drafting of different scenarios - how different forms of interaction with the Dead Sea will affect natural resources - and hope to present these scenarios to stakeholders, including politicians, so that the information can be used for strategic decision making. The project is funded under the International Cooperation (INCO) strand of the Fifth Framework Programme (FP5).

The Dead Sea Basin has been affected by the economic and demographic changes that have taken place over the last 50 years. The shrinking of the surface area by around 30 per cent makes the degradation visible to all.

The Dead Sea project builds on the results of the JOWA project, which looked at the lower Jordan basin, and many of the researchers hope to carry out a third project - on the upper basin. 'What I want is to look at the whole basin, which includes Syria. I know it's difficult right now, but let's build a database now ready for when people can talk to each other,' project participant Jad Issac, from the Palestinian Applied Research Institute in Jerusalem (ARIJ), told CORDIS News, referring to the tension in the region.

'By 2008 or 2009 when we finish, I hope that there will be somebody wanting to carry out integrated basin-wide management,' he added.

'We are looking at who would be the winners and the losers,' said Director of the Israeli Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, David Lehrer. 'For example, a peace treaty could be detrimental,' he said, explaining that an influx of refugees or pressure to develop the area could seriously damage the Dead Sea. Of course this does not mean that the partners are opposed to an Israel-Palestine peace treaty.

The Dead Sea is important to the region for a number of reasons. The unique environment is home to hundreds of plant, animal and bird species, including some that are in danger of extinction. The basin is also valued as the origin of some of the world's oldest human settlements, and has sites sacred to Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The Dead Sea itself, along with the region's climate, are also recognised as being of benefit for the treatment of skin disease, and thus attract a large number of tourists, upon whom many locals depend.

Sinking water levels also have other implications for the region. Porous rocks are drying up, and are no longer able to support the weight of those above them. This leads to subsidence and the appearance of sinkholes. And less water in the Dead Sea also means less water in the freshwater springs along its shores.

Pollution from the open discharge of wastewater is also a problem in many parts of the basin, and this is expected by many to be exacerbated with population growth and changes to consumption trends. But making use of this wastewater could actually improve efficiency of water use in the region. Instead of using 'new' water for agriculture, treated wastewater could be used, thus reducing the use of source water. This is one possible scenario being investigated by the Dead Sea consortium. 'Agriculture uses so much water that there is nothing left for nature,' said Rudolf Orthofer of the project's coordinating institute, ARC Seibersdorf Research in Austria.

The partners are aware of the social implications of any water management decisions however. While agriculture may drain water supplies, it may be the only way that some in the region can make a living.

The difficult political situation in the region has also brought its own set of problems for the Dead Sea. On the Palestinian side of the study area, overgrazing by sheep and goats has had a significant impact on vegetation. Excessive uprooting has led to a reduction in seeding and reduced regeneration. Mismanagement is one reason for the overgrazing, but restrictions on the movement of herds in areas declared by Israel to be closed military zones have intensified the problem. Water is also of strategic importance. 'You need to know about your land, or you can't administer it,' said Dr Orthofer.

The partners consider that this research is also fairly urgent. Not only because of the rapid degradation of the area, but because the World Bank is currently funding a feasibility study on pumping water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. As the water would need to be pumped upwards, this would be a very expensive solution, and is not favoured by the consortium. As the partners point out, the World Bank study is intended to assess the feasibility of such a scheme, and is not addressing the likely environmental impact of the proposal.

The importance of this research for the Dead Sea region is easy to appreciate. But why is this research important for Europe? Why is the European Commission providing 740,000 euro for this project to be carried out?

Some of the project partners gave their thoughts on this question. The international cooperation aspect of the project is important, as facilitating contacts between European and non-European researchers is a priority for the EU. Dr Orthofer suggested that Europe also feels a certain sense of responsibility for this region. On a scientific level, Europe has a lot to learn from Jordan, Israel and Palestine on water management. These countries have a long history of irrigated land, as well as information and methodologies that Europe does not have, said Dr Issac.

The project could also be regarded as a European contribution to creating a forum where people from these countries, so often in conflict with one another, are able to meet at different levels, agreed several of the project partners.

Indeed, the Dead Sea partners are only now beginning to realise the full extent of links between countries in the region that the JOWA project previously helped to forge. JOWA came to an end in 2001, but the existence of new networks and collaborations that came about as a result of this research have only recently come to light. As summed up by Dr Issac, the benefits from this type of project may lie far in the future.
For further information on the Dead Sea and JOWA projects, please consult the following web addresses:
http://www.deadseaproject.org
http:///systemforschung.arcs.ac.at/jo wapu bl/

CORDIS RTD-NEWS / © European Communities
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