With all the staid news about rising water rates and the need
for increased water quality vigilance, I couldn’t help but take a time-out to
read about a new—and potentially deadly—drought hazard in the middle east: Dead
Sea sink holes.According to a story by the Associated Press,
an extreme water shortage in and around the Dead
Sea has created underground craters that “can open up in an instant,
sucking in whatever lies above.” The AP quotes Eli Raz, a sinkhole survivor and
geologist who is working on a sinkhole map to help others avoid a similar fate,
as saying, “This is the most remarkable evidence of the brutal interference of
humans in the Dead Sea.”
The sinkholes are the result of over 40 years of development
in the region. In the 1960s, Israel and Jordan both
built water plants that diverted water from the River Jordan, and that
freshwater dissolves the sea’s subterranean salt layer, creating a perfect
sinkhole environment. The Dead Sea is the
lowest point on earth, and due in part to its geological and historical
significance the area has also long been a tourist destination. But the arrival
of more and more tourists, along with local population growth and questionable
actions on the part of nearby chemical manufacturers has undermined large
swathes of shoreline along this saltwater lake. Although there are some warning
signs, Raz estimates that there could be up to 3,000 sinkholes lurking just
under the sea’s fragile shoreline.
And it’s not just the errant
hiker who’s at risk. The sinkholes have had an economic impact as well. So far,
authorities have been forced to close a campground and several small date
groves. A nearby naval base has also been shuttered and a proposed 5,000-room
hotel project has been suspended.
If the situation is allowed to
continue, some experts estimate that the Dead
Sea will lose another third of its area by the end of the century.
That might seem like a small price to pay—30% less of a small, inland sea over
the course of several decades—but the demise of the Dead Sea would not be
without consequence, and its precarious state should serve as a cautionary tale
for anyone who thinks that water demands should be satisfied at all costs.