Multidisciplinary Investigations of the Transboundary Dead Sea Basin and Its Water Resources

Israel, the Palestinian Authorities and Jordan exploit the transboundary water resources of the Dead Sea basin. Our aim was to add reliable numbers to the water budget of the lake, despite the complicated integrative work and data acquisition due to the tense political situation. We here outline four parts of the project that generally concern surface and groundwater influx to the Dead Sea: (i) direct and non-direct measurements and hydrological modelling to quantify surface runoff, (ii) chemical fingerprinting to characterize groundwater origin, flow, and evolution between recharge and discharge areas, (iii) thermal remote sensing approaches to precisely identify location and abundance of groundwater discharge and (iv) groundwater modelling to quantify discharge volumes. The major outcomes are: (i) total mean annual runoff volumes from side wadis (except the Jordan River ) entering the Dead Sea amounts to approximately 58−66 × 106 m3 a−1, (ii) area normalised recharge amounts differ on both sides being ~45 mm/a at the western side and ~32 mm/a at the eastern side, (iii) modelled groundwater discharge volumes from Upper Cretaceous aquifers from both sides are in order of magnitude of 177 × 106 m3 a−1.

[1]  R. Al-Weshah.  The water balance of the Dead Sea : an integrated approach , 2000 .

[2]  E. Rosenthal,et al.  Rare earths and yttrium hydrostratigraphy along the Lake Kinneret–Dead Sea–Arava transform fault, Israel and adjoining territories , 2003 .

[3]  C. Siebert,et al.  The hydrochemical identification of groundwater flowing to the Bet She’an-Harod multiaquifer system (Lower Jordan Valley) by rare earth elements, yttrium, stable isotopes (H, O) and Tritium , 2012 .

[4]  Ittai Gavrieli,et al.  The origin and mechanisms of salinization of the lower Jordan river 1 1 Associate editor: K. K. Falk , 2004 .

[5]  Y. Arkin,et al.  Dead Sea sinkholes – an ever-developing hazard , 2000 .

[6]  V. Lyakhovsky,et al.  Is advective heat transport significant at the Dead Sea basin , 2007 .

[7]  Multi-response calibration of a conceptual hydrological model in the semiarid catchment of Wadi al Arab, Jordan , 2014 .

[8]  Olaf Kolditz,et al.  Numerical analysis of the groundwater regime in the western Dead Sea escarpment, Israel + West Bank , 2013, Environmental Earth Sciences.

[9]  Peter Krause,et al.  Hydrological system analysis and modelling of the Nam Co basin in Tibet , 2010 .

[10]  B. Spiro,et al.  The sulfur system in anoxic subsurface brines and its implication in brine evolutionary pathways: the Ca-chloride brines in the Dead Sea area , 2001 .

[11]  Y. Yechieli,et al.  The distribution of saline groundwater and its relation to the hydraulic conditions of aquifers and aquitards: examples from Israel , 2011 .

[12]  B. Mayer,et al.  Sources and transformations of nitrogen compounds along the Lower Jordan River. , 2004, Journal of environmental quality.

[13]  H. Gvirtzman,et al.  Groundwater flow along and across structural folding: an example from the Judean Desert, Israel , 2005 .

[14]  C. Siebert,et al.  Lake Tiberias and its dynamic hydrochemical environment , 2009 .

[15]  Richard Gloaguen,et al.  Localisation and temporal variability of groundwater discharge into the Dead Sea using thermal satellite data , 2013, Environmental Earth Sciences.

[16]  D. Ronen,et al.  The source and age of groundwater brines in the Dead Sea area, as deduced from 36Cl and 14C , 1996 .

[17]  Elias Salameh,et al.  Does the Actual Drop in Dead Sea Level Reflect the Development of Water Sources Within its Drainage Basin , 1999 .

[18]  Vladimir Lyakhovsky,et al.  Time response of the water table and saltwater transition zone to a base level drop , 2008 .

[19]  Michal Segal-Rozenhaimer,et al.  Quantifying ground water inputs along the Lower Jordan River. , 2005, Journal of environmental quality.

[20]  W. Alkhoury.  Hydrological modelling in the meso scale semiarid region of Wadi Kafrein / Jordan -The use of innovative techniques under data scarcity , 2011 .

[21]  Jörg Peplies,et al.  Microbial and Chemical Characterization of Underwater Fresh Water Springs in the Dead Sea , 2012, PloS one.

[22]  E. Salameh,et al.  Changes in the Dead Sea level and their impacts on the surrounding groundwater bodies , 2000 .

[23]  S. Filin,et al.  Sinkhole characterization in the Dead Sea area using airborne laser scanning , 2011 .

[24]  E. Rosenthal,et al.  Geochemical tracing of mineral water sources in the South Western Dead Sea Basin, Israel , 1969 .

[25]  Ittai Gavrieli,et al.  Water, salt, and energy balances of the Dead Sea , 2005 .

[26]  Ali El-Naqa,et al.  Groundwater Protection and Management Strategy in Jordan , 2009 .

[27]  R. Gloaguen,et al.  How to identify groundwater-caused thermal anomalies in lakes based on multi-temporal satellite data in semi-arid regions , 2013 .

[28]  M. Murakami.  Managing Water for Peace in the Middle East: Alternative Strategies , 1995 .

[29]  Predicting Sedimentation at Mujib Dam Reservoir in Jordan , 2012 .

[30]  A. Starinsky,et al.  Geochemical History of the Dead Sea , 2009 .

[31]  B. N. Asmar,et al.  Dynamic simulation of the Dead Sea , 2002 .

[32]  O. Crouvi,et al.  Evolution of the Dead Sea sinkholes , 2006 .

[33]  Asher Brenner,et al.  Challenges to estimate surface- and groundwater flow in arid regions: the Dead Sea catchment. , 2014, The Science of the total environment.

[34]  Jonathan B. Laronne,et al.  High rates of sediment transport by flashfloods in the Southern Judean Desert, Israel , 2005 .

[35]  S. Kraushaar,et al.  Thermal waters in the Lower Yarmouk Gorge and their relation to surrounding aquifers , 2014 .