Jordan to pursue $980 million desal project

Jordan’s Ministry of Water and Irrigation is poised to begin work on a $980 million seawater desalination project that will provide drinking water to the nation’s citizens and help to replenish the waters of the shrinking Dead Sea. Under the Jordan Red Sea Development Project, seawater will be withdrawn from the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea and transported to the desalination facility, which will be located in the Araba Valley. The desalinated water will then be transferred back south to Aqaba, while excess seawater will be pumped to the Dead Sea. According to Jordan Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, the project will provide his country with 100 cubic meters of drinking water and irrigation water annually.