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U. Shavit et al.
1 Introduction
The Jordan River is the largest river in the region, and originates from three
sources; Dan, Banyas, and Hasbani, from which it flows through the Upper Jordan
River into Lake Tiberias (210 m below sea level). The Lower Jordan River starts
at Alumot, downstream from Lake Tiberias, and ends at the Dead Sea in the south
(410 m below sea level). The river symbolizes the history of the region. Starting
with the Israelites crossing the river, and continuing with the Prophets, Elijah,
Elisha, John the Baptist, and Jesus Christ all crossed the river in their lifetimes. At
present, the Lower Jordan River serves as an international border.
The quality and quantities of water delivered by the Lower Jordan River have
been extremely degraded during the past decades. Since the implementation of
water-supply projects in Israel, Jordan, and Syria, no fresh surface water flows
into the river (except for negligible springs and rare flood events). As a result, the
available water sources are limited to water from saline springs of Lake Tiberias
(the saline carrier), natural flows from adjacent saline springs, dumping and
leakage of solid and liquid wastes, effluents of fish ponds, and agricultural return
flows from adjacent fields. In the past, the total discharge of the river into the
Dead Sea was nearly 1200 mcm yea(l. Excluding major flood events (which are
rare), it was estimated that this amount has now declined to merely 100 - 200 mcm
year- l (Tahal 2000).
The river is a resource shared by all peoples in the region. As such, it received a
great deal of attention in the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan (October,
1994). Following the agreements between the two countries and the desire to
develop the regional environment, changes in the operation of the river and its
surroundings are expected to take place in the near future. These changes include
the desalination of saline water and treatment of sewage and other waste fluids.
AI-Weshah (2000) presented recently a water balance calculation, according to
which, the total discharge of the river into the Dead Sea is 175 mcm year· l . When
including the treaty allocations, the discharge is reduced to only 60 mcm year· l .
The Jordan rift valley serves as a base level to which surface water and
groundwater drain from both east and west. The river itself serves as the base level
to which shallow groundwater drains from the valley. The shallow groundwater
represents a mixture of a variety of end members. Although the expected
operational modifications will affect the hydrology and chemistry of the shallow
groundwater system, we consider it as the more stable system among all other
water systems around the river. Better understanding of this complex hydrological
system is necessary in order to predict the effect of the expected future changes.
The Jordan Valley basin is part of the Dead Sea Rift Valley, an active
geological depression with elevations between 210 to 410 m below sea level.
Since the late Miocene, several invasions of Mediterranean Seawater into the rift
valley have created long, narrow lakes from which the salt deposits of Mt. Sedom
were formed (Zak 1967). The chemical, boron, and strontium isotopic
compositions of brines and saline springs found throughout the Rift Valley reflect
chemical evolution and modifications of the original evaporated seawater
U. Shavit et al.
1 Introduction
The Jordan River is the largest river in the region, and originates from three
sources; Dan, Banyas, and Hasbani, from which it flows through the Upper Jordan
River into Lake Tiberias (210 m below sea level). The Lower Jordan River starts
at Alumot, downstream from Lake Tiberias, and ends at the Dead Sea in the south
(410 m below sea level). The river symbolizes the history of the region. Starting
with the Israelites crossing the river, and continuing with the Prophets, Elijah,
Elisha, John the Baptist, and Jesus Christ all crossed the river in their lifetimes. At
present, the Lower Jordan River serves as an international border.
The quality and quantities of water delivered by the Lower Jordan River have
been extremely degraded during the past decades. Since the implementation of
water-supply projects in Israel, Jordan, and Syria, no fresh surface water flows
into the river (except for negligible springs and rare flood events). As a result, the
available water sources are limited to water from saline springs of Lake Tiberias
(the saline carrier), natural flows from adjacent saline springs, dumping and
leakage of solid and liquid wastes, effluents of fish ponds, and agricultural return
flows from adjacent fields. In the past, the total discharge of the river into the
Dead Sea was nearly 1200 mcm yea(l. Excluding major flood events (which are
rare), it was estimated that this amount has now declined to merely 100 - 200 mcm
year- l (Tahal 2000).
The river is a resource shared by all peoples in the region. As such, it received a
great deal of attention in the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan (October,
1994). Following the agreements between the two countries and the desire to
develop the regional environment, changes in the operation of the river and its
surroundings are expected to take place in the near future. These changes include
the desalination of saline water and treatment of sewage and other waste fluids.
AI-Weshah (2000) presented recently a water balance calculation, according to
which, the total discharge of the river into the Dead Sea is 175 mcm year· l . When
including the treaty allocations, the discharge is reduced to only 60 mcm year· l .
The Jordan rift valley serves as a base level to which surface water and
groundwater drain from both east and west. The river itself serves as the base level
to which shallow groundwater drains from the valley. The shallow groundwater
represents a mixture of a variety of end members. Although the expected
operational modifications will affect the hydrology and chemistry of the shallow
groundwater system, we consider it as the more stable system among all other
water systems around the river. Better understanding of this complex hydrological
system is necessary in order to predict the effect of the expected future changes.
The Jordan Valley basin is part of the Dead Sea Rift Valley, an active
geological depression with elevations between 210 to 410 m below sea level.
Since the late Miocene, several invasions of Mediterranean Seawater into the rift
valley have created long, narrow lakes from which the salt deposits of Mt. Sedom
were formed (Zak 1967). The chemical, boron, and strontium isotopic
compositions of brines and saline springs found throughout the Rift Valley reflect
chemical evolution and modifications of the original evaporated seawater