Dead sea ecological disaster 1960 - 2007

The Arava Stream ( he, נחל הערבה, Nahal HaArava) is an

intermittent stream Intermittent, temporary or seasonal rivers or streams cease to flow every year or at least twice every five years.(Tzoraki et al., 2007) Such rivers drain large arid and semi-arid areas, covering approximately a third of the earth's surface. ...

(occasionally flowing in the rainy, winter season) that flows from the approximate mid-point of the

Arava desert The Arabah, Araba or Aravah ( he, הָעֲרָבָה, ''hāʿĂrāḇā''; ar, وادي عربة, ''Wādī ʿAraba''; lit. "desolate and dry area") is a loosely defined geographic area south of the Dead Sea basin, which forms part of the borde ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

's Southern District northward. It is 89 km long, and in many parts, serves as the actual border between Israel and Jordan. The stream originates on the crest of the Notza Ridge, which forms the watershed divide between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea, and from which all streams in the Arava desert flow either north to the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...

or south to the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

. The stream's prominent tributaries include: Nahal Paran,

Nahal Barak Nahal Barak ( he, נחל ברק), also known as Barak gorge or Barak river, is an intermittent stream and canyon in the Arava desert in Israel's South District. When it is flooded, Nahal Barak forms part of the network of streams that drain the ...

, Nahal Tzin, Nahal Tzafit, and Nahal Nekorot. In addition to Israel and Jordan, parts of its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

are in the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a l ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

."Synoptic-Scale Control over Modern Rainfall and Flood Patterns in the Levant Drylands with Implications for Past Climates"
/ref>

Northern flow

The stream flows into the area of

evaporation pond Evaporation ponds are artificial ponds with very large surface areas that are designed to efficiently evaporate water by sunlight and expose water to the ambient temperatures. Evaporation ponds are inexpensive to design making it ideal for mult ...

s in what used to be the southernmost end of the

and divides these ponds into the

area (managed by the

Dead Sea Works The Dead Sea Works ( he, מפעלי ים המלח, ''Mif'alei Yam HaMelakh'') is an Israeli potash plant in Sdom, on the Dead Sea coast of Israel. History Under the British administration, concessions from the Mandatory government were given ...

) and the

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

area. It enters the evaporation area and on exit it drains the

brine Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for br ...

into the Dead Sea,"Industry-Driven versus Natural Groundwater Flow Regime at the Dead Sea Coastal Aquifer"
/ref> together with the parallel brine drain channel. After the Dead Sea basin was severed into the Northern and Southern parts, the area between them turned into dry seabed. It is a dangerous area due to

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

s and

land mines A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automatic ...

s, and the entrance there is prohibited. "Restgoring Natural Resources"
a Dead Sea Works report The banks of the Arava Stream (and the brine channel) had become eroded in the area, end the continued erosion endangers the stability of the evaporation ponds. Also the seasonal floods of the stream present danger to the chemical plants in the

Mount Sodom Mount Sodom ( he, הר סדום, ''Har Sedom'') is a hill along the southwestern part of the Dead Sea in Israel; it is part of the Judaean Desert Nature Reserve. It takes its name from the legendary city of Sodom, whose destruction is the subj ...

area. The correspondent of Kan 11 TV channel

Oren Aharoni Oren Aharoni (אורן אהרוני; born November 12, 1973) is an Israeli basketball coach and former basketball player. He played the guard position. Aharoni played in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, and on the Israeli national basketbal ...

wrote a series of articles about the northern path of the Arava Stream and dubbed it a new "secret river" because it is mostly unknown to the general public."Israel's not so secret new river"
by Shani Ashkenazi, ''

Globes A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe of ...

'', January 22, 2020

References

External links

Rivers of Israel Rivers of Jordan {{Jordan-river-stub