By Mohammad Ben Hussein 

AMMAN – The World Bank on Wednesday invited international companies to bid for a $15.5 million feasibility study to examine the environmental and social impacts of the Red-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project on the surrounding countries.

“The overall objective of the study is to evaluate the conveyance of water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea as a way to address environmental degradation of the Dead Sea region,” according to the project’s term of reference.

Jordan, the Palestinian National Authority and Israel have placed advertisements in major local dailies inviting interested firms to apply.

Divided into two sections, the study focuses on the environmental and social impacts as well as the overall feasibility of the proposed canal.  Companies will be allowed to bid for the whole study or just one part.

The firm that wins the bid will also be required to examine the possibility of seawater desalination and energy production.

Jordan, with scarce resources, is counting on the project to meet future energy and water requirements.

The bank said the company that wins the project must submit its report within two years. The eventual construction of the canal is expected to cost around $5 billion.

“The study will consider environmental, economic, technical, social, and financial aspects of the concept,” according to a statement posted on the project’s site.

The Red-Dead project is part of international efforts to save the Dead Sea, which has been dropping at the rate of one metre per year, largely due to diversion of water from the Jordan River for agricultural and industrial use.

During the past 20 years alone, it has plunged more than 30 metres, with experts warning that it could dry up within 50 years.

The proposed canal will be built along the border with Israel in Wadi Araba, pumping 650 million cubic metres (mcm) of water annually from the Red to the Dead Sea.  It is expected to generate 550 megawatts of electricity.

The project also entails the creation of a desalination plant, which will provide the Kingdom with 850mcm of potable water a year.

However, environmentalists and geologists have expressed concern over the plan, saying that the unique Dead Sea ecosystem would be changed irrevocably if it is contaminated by seawater.

Jordan is considered one of the 10 most water-deprived regions in the world, with an annual water deficit of around 500mcm.