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How did the Joint Declaration of Intent between Israel and Jordan seek to help the Jordan River and the Dead Sea?
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Dead Sea
Salt deposits at the Dead Sea near Masada, Israel.
In 2022, Israel and Jordan entered into a Joint Declaration of Intent to address the environmental decline of the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. This agreement established a framework for bilateral cooperation aimed at two primary goals:
- Pollution Reduction: The countries committed to working together to remove pollution from the Jordan River system.1
- Increased Freshwater Discharge: The declaration promised to increase the volume of freshwater flowing from the Jordan River into the Dead Sea, a measure intended to help mitigate the precipitous drop in the lake's water level that has occurred since the 1960s due to extensive water diversion for commercial and agricultural use.1
These efforts represent a shift toward conservation, following decades of water management practices that significantly reduced the river's flow and contributed to the Dead Sea's receding shoreline and rising salinity levels.123