Water officials address Egyptian concerns over Red-Dead project

A good gesture from the Jordanian side to explain the details of the Red-Dead canal to Egyptian environmental officials and experts. The free flow of accurate information is very critical.

Source: Jordan Times

By Hana Namrouqa

Ministry of Water and Irrigation officials on Tuesday met with an Egyptian delegation to address Cairo’s reservations over the Red-Dead Water Conveyance Project.

Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abu Saud met with the delegation, which consisted of Egyptian environment and energy experts, at the ministry yesterday, where he briefed them on the objectives of the project and its importance to Jordan, the world’s fourth water-poorest country.

“We briefed them on how bad Jordan’s water situation is, as well as the status of our water resources, which are scarce and depleted,” Abu Saud told reporters yesterday.

Egyptian officials and environmentalists have previously expressed concerns that if implemented, the Red-Dead Project would impact their country’s ecosystems and interests.

News reports claimed that some Egyptians believed the Red-Dead Project would act as a replacement for the Suez Canal, while others were concerned that it might affect the Red Sea’s marine life and coral reefs.

The delegation, which arrived in the Kingdom on Monday, will spend two more days visiting the Dead Sea and the Red Sea, the minister noted.

“We are not hiding anything, anyone can see our projects,” Abu Saud stressed.

In yesterday’s meeting, the minister told delegation members that the establishment of a desalination plant is crucial to meeting the Kingdom’s growing water needs.

“We told them that even with the implementation of the Disi Water Conveyance Project, the Kingdom’s water crisis will not be solved and that the best solution is the construction of a desalination plant on the Red Sea,” Abu Saud said.

The Disi project entails the construction of a 325-kilometre pipeline to convey water from the ancient Disi aquifer in the south of Jordan to Amman.

Projected to supply the capital with 100 million cubic metres of water annually, the Disi project will be one of the Kingdom’s main water generators, but it will not put an end to the country’s water crisis, according to officials.

Jordan sees the Red-Dead project, which entails transferring water from the Red Sea to the rapidly disappearing Dead Sea, as a long-term solution to its water problems.

The project seeks to pump one billion cubic metres of water annually with the aim of raising the water level in the shrinking lake from 408 metres to 315 metres below sea level.

The Red-Dead project was approved and agreed upon in 2005 by the three concerned parties: Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Israel.