The Dead Sea is a severely disturbed ecosystem, greatly damaged by anthropogenic intervention in its water balance.During the 20 century, the Dead Sea level dropped by more than 25 meters, and presently (2006) it is at about 420 meters below mean sea level.Over the last decade the average rate of water level decline is ~1 m/yr, while salt accumulates at the bottom of the lake at a rate of ~0.1 m/yr.Accordingly, lake volume decreases by some 700 million cubic meters annually. Due to the high density of the Dead Sea brine, this volume translates to an annual freshwater deficit of about 850 million cubic meters. The negative water balance of the lake is mainly due to the diversion of water from its catchment area by Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, as well as the result of the industrial activity in the southern basin of the Dead Sea, which at its current level would otherwise be dry. In 2002 Israel and Jordan jointly announced their interest in stopping the water level decline and the deterioration of the surrounding infrastructure by constructing a Red Sea Dead Sea conduit (RSDSC) that will pipe water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea.
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