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In the course of the 20th century, the level of the Dead Sea has dropped more than 25 m, and today stands at about 415 m below sea level. Pumping from the Sea of galilee and the Yarmouk River for the current supply of water in Israel, Jordan and Syria, as well as pumping from the Dead Sea for the industrial plants in Israel and Jordan, have created a deficit of around 80% of all the water collected within the Dead Sea in the past. As a result, the level is dropping at a rate of approximately one meter per year. This has resulted in significant environmental changes, some irreversible, which harm the environmental and economic potential of the region.
The damage to the infrastructure accompanying the drop in sea level and the lack of certainty as to the future of the Dead Sea region has recently caused considerable public interest, particularly because of the slowdown in developing infrastructures, tourism, industry and settlement in the area. One of the proposed solutions is establishing the “Two Seas Conduit”, involving the import of seawater from the Gulf of Elat or the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea. It should be noted that the presently available data cannot foresee implications stemming from such an unprecedented project and it must be examined from all aspects before taking any decisions are made to carry it out.
At the end of December 2002, the government decided to further develop an environmental policy for the future of the Dead Sea, with particular emphasis on the "Two Seas Conduit ". This includes an examination of the processes involving changes in the Dead Sea's system and the surrounding infrastructure and weighing all environmental, economic and legal aspects affected by these changes. The Geological Survey is dealing with quantifying the anticipated changes in the system as a basis for evaluating results from various experts in each field. One aspect related to the present state of the Dead Sea has been completed and published by the GSI, Ministry of the Environment and The Jerusalem Institute.
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