Environment Ministry urges government to immediately stabilize Dead Sea water level

The Environmental Protection Ministry publishes a draft policy document on the future of the Dead Sea for public comment.

The document’s recommendations include calling on the government to act immediately to stabilize the saline lake’s falling water levels, limit the pumping of its water and charge the Dead Sea Works or its successor for the water taken from the Dead Sea for the extraction of minerals.

As part of an inter-ministerial committee on the Dead Sea, led by the Prime Minister’s Office, the Environmental Protection Ministry has been tasked with formulating a long-term policy for the Dead Sea Basin that includes addressing the level of the shrinking saline lake.

The ministry has produced the draft document in collaboration with the Geological Survey, the Dead Sea Drainage Authority and the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Studies.