'Red to Dead' seawater plan underway
Esteemed British architect Lord Foster has been enlisted to carve a canal through the Sinai desert in order to rescue the Dead Sea from environmental damage.
The Sunday Times of London reports the canal would transfer water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea has shrunk by a third over the past 50 years and faces complete evaporation if action is not taken. Tourism in the area has already been affected and the falling water level has left the Israeli spa resort of Ein Gedi a mile from the sea's shore.
A sequence of canals reportedly would channel seawater through the arid Arava Valley in southern Israel and Jordan to the salt lake at the lowest point on the Earth's surface, 415 meters below sea level.
The "Red to Dead" plan is expected to cost about $3 billion, the report said.
Some environmentalists are against the plan saying it could be dangerous to mix the waters because of their differing chemical make-ups.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
