Two consortiums will be selected in June to start researching the effects of the Red-Dead Canal Project on the Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea.

One team will research the effects of moving water from the red sea to the Dead Sea, while the other will study the effects of mixing the water of the Dead Sea, which is considered one of the most saline water bodies, with the less saline water of the red sea.

The Canal project entails linking both water bodies in order to feed the Dead Sea, and doubts have been raised concerning the effects of the project on the characteristics and composition of the Dead Sea, which are known to be special ones that are not present in any other water bodies.

“The outcome of mixing of these two water bodies over a time scale of decades is unknown and is difficult to model and predict,” noted the bank’s March 13 draft study preamble.

“Clearly, the Dead Sea will change its composition and characteristics as they are known today or were in the past if it receives large volumes of water from the Red Sea.”

Some environmentalist critics warn that tampering with nature on such an unprecedented scale could bring disaster: the Dead Sea mighty turn white as gypsum sediment precipitates, then green as microbial blooms flourish.- REUTERS