The Dead Sea is falling by about one metre (3ft) a year
due to declining rainfall, and an increase in the amount of irrigation
water being taken from the River Jordan. Water flows in from the River
Jordan and other sources, but there is no outflow – it simply evaporates,
concentrating the salts in the water into brine. Environmentalists warn
the salt lake could vanish by 2050 if nothing is done.

Israel and Jordan announced at the recent World Summit
on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg that they have agreed on a
plan to build an $800 million pipeline to pipe water north from the Gulf
of Aqaba in Red Sea to the Dead Sea.