By Hana Namrouqa JORDAN TIMES

AMMAN – The impact of abstracting millions of cubic metres of seawater from the Red Sea will be negligible, according to the results of the Red Sea Modelling Study.

The study assessed effects of the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project on the environment of the Gulf of Aqaba and Eilat, especially since the mega scheme seeks to pump a maximum of two billion cubic metres of water annually from the Red Sea into the rapidly shrinking Dead Sea.

The assessment of pumping on the marine environment focused on five possible effects: modification of heat flux, changes in water current intensity and circulation, local damage to benthic communities, changes in nutrient fluxes and entrainment of larvae and consequent repercussions to connectivity.

“Our physical and chemical oceanographic study suggests that the effects on heat flux and on nutrient dynamics will be negligible,” said the report, posted on the World Bank’s website.

The study, however, found that construction of the pumping station will undoubtedly cause substantial damage to local benthic communities over several hundreds of square metres.

“Based on above assessments, our findings are for a “go” decision, as long as the intake configuration, location, and depth are selected properly,” the report said.

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Note by the editor: Can we still read the newspapers on the dead sea after this project is completed, I wonder?