Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid: “The restoration of southern Jordan is a special opportunity to illustrate how regional cooperation can promote the issues of tourism, health, water and the Israeli and Jordanian environment. A clean Jordan is a regional and global blessing”
Minister of Energy, Karin Elharer: “Water is life and that which will flow into the southern Jordan will ensure sustainable agriculture, tourism and the prosperity of life in the settlements along it. I am proud to bring to the approval of the government the decision to stop the discharge of sewage into the Jordan River and replace it with the discharge of water from the Kinneret in a way that will ensure the rehabilitation of the southern Jordan and strengthen the rural area through Encouraging agriculture and preserving the open spaces. We thank the Water Authority for the serious professional work done to enable the approval of this important plan that will restore its crown to its former glory and make Jordan, once again, a magnet for life in the region.”
Minister of Environmental Protection, Tamar Zandberg: “This is a historic government decision. For the first time the Israeli government is making a decision to restore the central and most important river in Israel, which is also a rich ecosystem, a tourist, community and social attraction as well as a focus for regional and international cooperation. The Jordan River is important to all three religions, and they live around it Diverse populations. For decades it was neglected, most of its waters were taken away and it actually became a sewage canal. This decision restores Atara to its former glory, and is the beginning of a correction. In an era of climate crisis and a worsening ecological crisis, it is of utmost importance to restore the Jordan River and return it to nature, the public and travelers. I thank Prime Minister Yair Lapid, the members of Minister Isavi Frij and the other ministers and partner ministries who joined the decision, which is a turning point in the government’s recognition of the dramatic importance of the Jordan River for all its functions.
Minister for Regional Cooperation, Issawi Frij: “Today, the Israeli government took upon itself the historic task of blooming and returning the southern Jordan River to its glory days, a magnificent natural treasure that is woven into the history of the region. Using the tools approved by the government’s decision, water and life will flow to the river, which will once again be a center of attraction throughout the year, for people and their owners. Life. Jordan is a regional resource whose restoration must also be through dialogue and cooperation with the Kingdom of Jordan. The Ministry of Regional Cooperation will work with our Jordanian colleagues to promote cooperation that will return the southern Jordan River to a tourist, agricultural and community focus, which will bring blessing to the entire region.”
The government approved today (Sunday) a historic plan for the restoration and development of the slopes of the southern Jordan River and for the formulation of a regional climate plan. The decision was submitted by the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid; Minister of Environmental Protection, Tamar Zandberg; Minister for Regional Cooperation, Issawi Frij, Minister of Energy Karin Elharar and the Water Authority. This plan for the restoration and development of the river is the most extensive that has been approved in recent decades. The Nature and Parks Authority, the Jordan Valley and the Springs Regional Councils and the Kinneret and South Jordan Drainage Authorities will assist in the implementation of the plan.
The purpose of the government’s decision is to restore the water of the river with the aim of turning it into a living stream that flows all year round and is a habitat with rich biological diversity, in order for it to become a tourist attraction for the general public. Thus, in fact, a sequence of open spaces will be created that combines nature and sustainable agriculture as another step to deal with climate change.
The section downstream of the Jordan, which is about 11 km long from the Sea of Galilee to Nahraim, is currently prohibited for bathing and drinking due to effluents discharged from the Bethany Sewage Treatment Plant along with the salty carrier water.
The approved plan complies with the decision of the Water Authority Council and seeks to remove these two sources of pollution and create a comprehensive solution in the area, through the construction of a desalination facility for part of the salty carrier water. The desalinated water will be mixed together with the effluents of the purification institute in Bethany, so that water suitable for agricultural uses will be obtained. Thus, in fact, the proposed solution is multi-beneficial, on the one hand it restores a section of the stream that until now was forbidden to bathe and will be returned to nature and the residents, and at the same time it will enable the promotion of tourism and employment in the area alongside a solution to the water shortage in agriculture.
The southern section of the Jordan, from Menharim to Nahal Bezek, serves as a border between Israel and the Kingdom of Jordan. The plan will result in a significant improvement in the quality of the water that will flow in the river, which will enable scenic and touristic development along this section, for the benefit of the public and the regional economy.
The southern Jordan River is a polluted source of water with little water flowing through it, a distant memory of the central, abundant and healthy river it used to be. Today, the width of the Jordan River is 25-7 meters, compared to 25-65 meters in the past and about 70 million cubic meters flow in it per year, compared to a flow of 1.3 billion cubic meters per year in the past. As part of the plan, the supply of Kinneret water to the Jordan River will increase and the discharge of wastewater will be stopped.
The restoration of southern Jordan is possible and necessary more than ever, following the restoration of relations with the Kingdom of Jordan and the possibility of advancing the issue jointly, with the support of the international community which expresses great interest in this.
The restoration of the Jordan will be based on two main indicators which are the amount of water that will flow in the river and the quality of the water. In the section downstream of the Jordan, Kinneret water will flow and its quantity will increase to about 40 million cubic meters per year (mcmh) and all sources of pollution from this section will be treated.
In the continuation of the river’s flow to southern Jordan (south of the rivers) the water quality will be less than 1,000 mg/l chloride. Also, about 10 milliliters of spring water from the spring valley will be added to this section.
The goal of the restoration is to see a gradual improvement of the biological diversity in the river and its surroundings as a result of increasing the flow and improving the water quality. In order to monitor the changes in water quality and biological diversity, monitoring will be carried out in the Jordan River (chemical and hydrobiological).