Environmental risks
The project raises a number of concerns related to its potential adverse environmental impacts on the site from which water will be sourced in the Gulf of Aqaba, on the area through which the canal will pass, and on the Dead Sea itself. Given the cost, complexity and risks involved in the proposed “Peace Canal,” as it has come to be known, many are asking why there isn’t more consideration of alternative ways to halt the Dead Sea crisis.
No consideration of alternatives
According to World Bank policies and guidelines on environmental assessment, studies of the proposed project must also examine alternative proposals for addressing the problem of the declining water level in the Dead Sea. Environmental organizations, such as Friends of the Earth-Middle East, have demanded that the Bank-supported studies include an independent analysis of alternatives to the Red-Dead Conduit project. They argue that an assessment of potential solutions to the Dead Sea crisis must examine the root causes of the drop in the lake’s level, and consider multiple options for reversing the decline. However, the terms of reference issued by the Bank to short-listed consultants in July 2007 did not mention any requirement to analyze alternative approaches to “halting the degradation of the Dead Sea environment.”
Friends of the Earth-Middle East was among the first to raise awareness about the endangered Dead Sea and called for an environmentally sustainable solution to the lake’s decline. The organization is now leading a public campaign to get the World Bank and the governments backing the water transfer project to comprehensively examine alternative options for saving the Dead Sea before taking a decision on how to proceed.