Environmental Tourism

I recently went to the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. While these are major tourism spots, this time I went there with a focus on environmentalism. I knew, from my previous visits, that the status of both the Dead Sea and Jordan River was bad. It was startling to hear exactly how bad it is.

The Dead Sea is receding by 1.3 (or so) meters a year.

The pictures above are from a hotel that was active until 1967 and the Dead Sea (barely visible in the distance) came all the way to the edge of the structure.

As the Dead Sea receded an unexpected phenomenon started to occur: sinkholes. There is a salt layer below the sediment that becomes eroded over time as underground water that is less saline flows past. This results in the sudden collapse of the salt layer and therefore dangerous and destructive sinkholes. 

12 years ago I ran the Dead Sea half marathon, I ran pretty closely to the water and the race started from this now destroyed spa (pictured above is the entrance and parking lot). The water is around 150 meters away and when the sinkhole picture above occurred, the spa was permanently abandoned - that was only in the last few years.

One reason that the Dead Sea is receding so much is that the Jordan River water is being completely used up for human consumption (primarily agriculture), by both Jordan and Israel. By the time it reaches the Dead Sea it is little more than a silt stream. Even so, pilgrims come from all over the world to get baptized in the less than inviting River.

This is the only part of the lower Jordan where civilians can approach the water and in the shadows of the pavilion, across the river, you can just barely see a Jordanian soldier monitoring the border.

There are proposed solutions for the state of the Dead Sea (most popular is the Red-Dead proposal) but nothing can be done immediately. Who will fund the projects? What are the further environmental impacts of any proposed solution? Could either Jordan or Israel stand to use less of the Jordan River waters? There are many researchers and organizations looking into all of this. There is a strong push to save the Dead Sea. Unfortunately, there is no solution that will be readily available for several years.