Jordan’s Red-Dead Initiative Sparks Hope for Renewal:

Located in the heart of the Middle East, Jordan has been struggling for decades with water scarcity and drought in its arid geographic location. In addition to the River Jordan having lost “95% of its natural flow because of diversion”, regional conflict and the recent influx of Syrian and Palestinian refugees has greatly strained Jordan’s already limited supply of resources. A current adaptation method that has been implemented in Amman has been the government initiative of providing tap water to the capital just once per week. However in May 2016 Jordan cooperated with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Agence Français de Développement (AFD) to implement the first phase of the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project (Red-Dead). 

The project which has just begun its construction, aspires to utilize the method of desalinization to help Jordan adapt to the impacts of climate change and drought that have been challenging the nation and region, while also preserving the cultural landmark of the shrinking Dead Sea. Water from the Gulf of Aqaba near the Red Sea will be transferred north where a desalinization plant will be built to treat water. A pipeline will extend from the desalinization plant to the Dead Sea, the lowest and saltiest point on Earth, and brine will be discharged into the Dead Sea’s water in the hopes of stopping it from drying up. In addition to utilizing the transmitted water to helping keep the Dead Sea alive, the desalinated water will be shared with Israel and Palestinian territories. The project’s estimated cost of $900 million raises several concerns, however the Red-Dead project is expected to generate more jobs in Jordan. Additionally, several environmental activists believe that the pipeline has the potential to contaminate groundwater with sea water. 

I question the likeliness of something going wrong with the project, and whether or not concerned environmental activists also have political motives. The Red-Dead project has enhanced communication amongst Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli authority and policy makers. I question whether or not “disaster diplomacy” can be applied to Jordan’s drought and the shrinking of the Dead Sea which is a valued aspect of Palestinian, Israeli, and Jordanian culture. Will cooperation within the Red-Dead initiative foster future mediation and peace talks among the nations? I am curious about France’s involvement in funding the project and what their priorities are regarding their relationship with Jordan. Do they hope to receive benefits from Jordan in return, and if so what? How will France’s new administration influence the funding for the Red-Dead initiative if its new policy makers decrease their priorities of addressing climate change? Several weeks ago his majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Trump met in Washington DC and recognized Jordan and the United States’s ongoing positive relationship and friendship. Will the United States and its current administration help Jordan with its efforts to combat climate change in the region, beyond addressing and combatting issues of terrorism that threaten the Middle East?  I look forward to observing and learning more about the environmental impacts that Jordan and the Middle East are challenged with during my voyage to Jordan this summer.