Proposed Dead Sea canal.

Proposed Dead Sea Canal 

THE Secretary-General's second report on a plan by Israel to build a canal linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea (document A/38/502 and Add.1) questions the project's legality and asserts it would significantly harm Jordan's vital potash industry. It also describes the potential impact of such a canal on Jordan's agriculture, settlements, roads, health care facilities, archaeological sites and environment.

The report is based on a study by four United Nations experts who visited Jordan from 28 June to 6 July 1983.

The findings of the Mediterranean Dead Sea Company Ltd., submitted by Israel on 8 August 1983, are also included in the report, along with information prepared by an American consulting firm for that company. Israel said that the material was being forwarded "despite the fact that no developments on the ground have occurred over the past year' and even though Israel had not received the clarifications on the study it had requested.

The Assembly in 1982 (resolution 37/122) asked the Secretary-General to assess the adverse effects of the project on Jordan and Arab territories occupied since 1967, including the Gaza Strip. The Secretary-General subsequently asked Israel and Jordan to admit a team of experts to undertake the mission. Israel replied that a meeting of United Nations and Israeli experts might prove both unproductive and inconclusive.

In 1981, the General Assembly had first considered the project and demanded (resolution 36/150) that Israel cease its implementation. The Security Council was also asked to consider initiating measures to halt its execution.

The Secretary-General in 1982 reported that the canal project, essentially a hydro-electric scheme to divert sea water from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea to produce energy, would cost an estimated $1.1 billion and be completed around 1990. It was to run from the Mediterranean, through the Gaza Strip and southern Israel, to the Dead Sea. Israel said direct benefits would include energy production, cooling of thermal power stations en route, exploitation of shale oils, establishment of solar ponds on the Dead Sea, tourism and desalination of sea water.

Legal Aspects

Gaza Strip: The study says that although a State has the unfettered right to perform acts in its own territory which do not have effects outside that territory, the proposed canal project would not be carried out solely in Israeli terriotory and would affect territory not belonging to Israel. The canal's intake system, an underground pumping-station and approximately seven kilometres of pressure pipe would be located in the Gaza Strip, presently under belligerent occupation. The study states that such an occupation "does not have the right to treat occupied territory as its own or to make changes in the territory beyond those necessitated by the immediate needs of the occupation'.

State-owned property could not be exploited "beyond normal use' nor could public resources be permanently alienated. Though much of the project would be underground and the surface would in time be restored, the limited authority of the occupying State made it difficult to reconcile the use of public land for a permanent installation, particularly because it would be for the improvement of the home economy of the occupant and had nothing to do with the needs of the occupation. The difficulty is further compounded because the canal would require continuous supervision and maintenance.

Jordan and the Occupied West Bank: Only one fourth of the shoreline and waters of the Dead Sea, into which the proposed canal would empty, is located in Israel; the remaining three-fourths belong to Jordan and the West Bank. The experts state that a fundamental principle of law is that "one must use his own property so as to do no injury to another'. The consent of interested States in a shared resource would be required before a project expected to cause appreciable damage in their territory could be executed. The experts note that the International Law Commission is presently codifying and developing international law relating to international watercourses. One article asserts that States could refrain from using a watercourse system in a way that may cause harm to other States along that system, according to the report.

Potash Production

The largest single impact of the canal on Jordan would be the flooding of the production facilities of the Arab Potash Company at Safi at the southern end of the Dead Sea. The facilities, in operation since 1982, cost an estimated $450 million. Present production--500,000 tons per year--is expected to increase to 1.2 million tons. Potash mining, which is Jordan's most important industry, provides 20 per cent of its commodity export value and 60 per cent of all revenues from the mining sector.

The study concludes that Jordan's vital potash industry would suffer appreciable harm from the canal. Jordan's consent would be an essential pre-condition to the project. "Any stoppage or reduction in potash production would have an important bearing on the national economy as well as the planned development of an integrated chemical industry', it says.

Other Impacts

Agriculture accounts for 14 per cent of Jordan's gross domestic product and 22.6 per cent of its exports. Overall, the study states, the canal scheme would have a relatively small effect on existing and future development.

The experts state that inevitably people would be displaced from their homes and work places because of the canal. The major impacts would be on farm settlements, principally at the southern end of the Dead Sea, and to a more limited extent along the north-east shore.

Flooding resulting from the canal project would also adversely affect some parts of the infrastructure, as well as recreational and health care facilities and archaeological sites.

Jordanian authorities were seriously concerned about potential adverse environmental consequences of the proposed Israeli canal, according to the report. Sea water could leak into aquifers through which the conduit would pass, and salt water could intrude into agriculture areas in the north. Alterations in the chemical composition of the Dead Sea could result from water being introduced from the Mediterranean. Fauna and flora on lands now above Dead Sea levels could be affected, as could the biota in that body of water. The delicate ecological balance of the Dead Sea might be destroyed through introduction of Mediterranean water.

Jordanian officials were also concerned that water from the conduit might be used to cool nuclear power stations which might be built, and that the used water would later be disposed of in the Dead Sea. Apprehension was expressed regarding the impact of discharged water used in processing oil shales which might be exploited in the Negev region.

Israeli Findings

Israel submitted supplementary material from the Mediterranean Dead Sea Co. Ltd. as well as a report prepared by an American consulting company for that firm.

The Company asserts that the canal project would have a limited impact on the environment and it would provide clean energy, in contrast to that provided by thermal power stations. It adds that "no significant changes are expected in the climate, natural environment and natural scenery, groundwater, or potash works, except for the positive impact of the reestablihsment of the Dead Sea's original surface area'.

The main impact of marine structures on the shores of the Mediterranean, the company asserts, may be changes on both sides of the intake structure, accumulation of sediments on one side and erosion on the opposite side. However, the company states that the structure could be designed in a reliable way, assuring that it is economical and efficient in use without causing environmental damage. The structure might be used as a marina for residents of the area, thus having a positive impact on tourism.

The Company states that during every stage of canal design, ways to prevent harm to groundwater were considered. Should any accidental leakage occur, the conduit water would take many years before arriving at the Be'er Sheva well field, allowing adequate time for corrective measures.

The company states that the Dead Sea is shrinking and will continue to do so because of the ever growing demand for the basin's water and the resulting diversions. The canal project would elevate the surface level of the Sea to its earlier state and maintain it at that level, "thereby increasing the lake's surface area while protecting its beauty'.

The company concludes that the canal project will improve the quality of the Dead Sea's environment in the areas of tourism, recreation and esthetic value. "Presently, the shoreline and bathing beaches are receding from the roads and tourist facilities' whereas the canal project will ensure a stable shoreline, giving momentum to recreational and tourism development, the findings state. By restoring the lake to its original size, "presently unattractive areas of salt marshes will again be covered by water' and the lake's "marvelous and singular scenery will re-emerge'.

Until 1979, the findings state, the Dead Sea had a stratified structure. Since then it had become "homogenized' with the upper and lower parts of the Sea becoming equal in density. The change resulted from a diminished inflow of water from the Jordan River. With the introduction of Mediterranean seawater, the Dead Sea would be restored to its previously stable stratified structure, the findings conclude.

It may be assumed that the inflow of Mediterranean seawater into the Dead Sea would result in a net increase of direct solar radiation and therefore an increase in evaporation. That could result in a positive contribution to the mineral industries in the area, and enable an increase in the flow to the hydroelectric power station. Lowering the level of salt in the air would also lead to a "cleansing of the air and an improvement in visibility in the entire region', the Israeli findings state.

The American consulting firm concludes that the project has been developed to a satisfactory feasibility stage and is approaching a level of outline design. the water conveyance and power features are well and competently designed and established and conservative features are included to avoid contamination of fresh water aquifers. Potential effects on the environment of mixing Mediterranean and Dead Sea waters are under continued study.