NOVA

The Dead Sea.

One of the most extraordinary places on Earth.

The Dead Sea is unique in many, many aspects...

Its chemistry,

its evolution,

its composition.

Its healing powers are well-known.

And it was the setting of dramatic events in the Bible.

It was considered

a very unusual and extraordinary place

in antiquity.

The Dead Sea is very special.

It's a treasure.

But now this wonder of the world is vanishing,

the shoreline pockmarked with sinkholes.

One-third of the Dead Sea surface has been lost

because of the lack of water.

The sea is in desperate need of water

in one of the most water-scarce regions on the planet...

The Middle East.

Access to water is a fundamental

basic human right.

Now a team of scientists

has developed an innovative and daring plan

to help solve the region's water shortage

and at the same time, save a dying sea.

But will it work?

We can destroy it,

if we intervene too much.

"Saving the Dead Sea."

Next on "NOVA."

Major funding for "NOVA" is provided by the following:

It is the lowest place on the surface of the Earth,

more than 1,400 feet below sea level,

ten times saltier than any ocean.

In ancient times, this sea was considered a threat.

The way it's presented in the Bible can be...

quite negative.

Sodom and Gomorrah were engulfed by the Dead Sea

as a punishment by God.

But this sea has also been treasured

for its unique chemistry.

Aristotle wrote about its remarkable water,

where everything floats.

According to legend, Cleopatra ordered her lover, Mark Antony,

to conquer the sea because of its mystical powers.

For thousands of years, pilgrims have come here

to bathe in its healing waters.

The Dead Sea is really very unique, very beautiful.

But now, this one-of-a-kind sea is receding at an alarming rate.

We need a lot of water here.

The water balance here is so in overdraft.

Back in the 1960s, the shoreline was almost up to the road.

Now, in some areas,

it's a mile away.

And as the water declines,

the beach has become inundated with sinkholes...

6,000 and counting.

It's like the craters on the moon,

but here it's not the moon.

This is a dying sea.

Just three years ago, this beach was visited by tourists

from around the world.

Now they evacuate the place.

All the infrastructures around,

they were being shut down,

like there was a gas station

and there used to be a restaurant here.

It looks like a bombed area.

It looks like a war.

Look at this.

We're just walking on something that used to be road.

This is a very dangerous area.

It is very, very important that something be done here.

Now a massive engineering project is in the works

to bring water back to the sea.

But will it succeed?

Can the Dead Sea be saved?

What's happening to the Dead Sea

is the age-old story of life in the desert:

the story of water.

The Dead Sea is in the heart of the Middle East,

bordered by Israel, the Palestinian Authority,

and Jordan,

a region that is home

to five percent of the world's population,

but just one percent of its water,

making it one of the most water-scarce regions

on the planet.

Palestine, Israel, and Jordan are mostly desert.

Since the biblical time, since the beginning of history,

we know that we have a shortage of water.

The secret of the life

in this area

is the water.

And the rule is, if there is water, there is life

and if there is no water, there is no life.

All people need water.

Israeli as well as the Palestinians, Jordanians,

as a human being.

Water is not a choice.

Water is a must.

But to solve the region's water shortage,

Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians

have to overcome years of conflict.

It is the most troubled area in the world,

and the Israeli-Arab conflict

has been running for the last 70 years or more.

Always, water is there

if countries want an excuse to initiate a conflict.

Water can be a cause of conflict,

but we will prefer it as a means of cooperation.

In a unique three-way agreement

between Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians,

a plan was developed called the Red Sea-Dead Sea Project.

The Red Sea-Dead Sea Conveyance Project

speaks about supplying drinking water for the Middle East

and stabilizing the Dead Sea,

that's what the Red Sea-Dead Sea is about.

It is an elaborate plan with many steps.

Jordan will get more water through a pipeline

from a lake in Israel called the Sea of Galilee.

The Palestinian Authority will get more water, too,

from the existing Israeli water system.

And in Southern Jordan, a desalination plant

will be built on the shores of the Red Sea.

The salty leftovers from the process of desalination,

called brine,

will be transported through a massive pipeline

and emptied into the Dead Sea to raise its level.

It's a regional cooperation project.

I think it's the first one and the biggest one

between Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority.

This plan could represent an important step

in bringing peace to the region,

but at the same time, is it good for the Dead Sea?

It is one of the world's largest water experiments

and no one is sure if it will work.

For scientists, the project is an enormous challenge

that involves linking two seas that have never been connected

in all of human history:

the Red Sea...

and the Dead Sea.

The geology of the region has made the Dead Sea

one of the most mineral-rich bodies of water on Earth.

No one knows exactly how a massive influx of Red Sea brine,

the leftovers from the proposed Jordanian desalination plant,

will affect its unique chemistry.

The composition of the water is very complicated.

It's not similar to any other seawater on Earth.

Every time that we are working with the Dead Sea,

we have many surprises.

Here, at Ben-Gurion University in Be'er Sheva, Israel,

researchers are trying to eliminate those surprises.

They're mixing Red Sea water, or brine,

with the unique water of the Dead Sea.

In the laboratory, we're trying to do experiment.

We are playing with different ratio,

different concentration,

different temperature...

We're playing with all the conditions

in order to learn

what will happen to the Dead Sea.

After months of mixing, they make an alarming observation.

The Dead Sea, instead of the regular color,

could turn white.

Tiny white crystals could form.

There's no doubt it will be a shocking aesthetic change.

What causes this strange transformation?

A mineral called gypsum.

It's used in plaster of Paris, wallboards,

orthopedic casts...

Even toothpaste.

Gypsum is a combination of calcium and sulfate.

It turns out that the Dead Sea is rich in calcium

and the Red Sea rich in sulfate.

Combined together,

you get gypsum crystals.

In the lab, some of the concoctions

the scientists cook up

form gypsum in a matter of hours.

How long this process will take when Red Sea brine

meets the Dead Sea on a massive scale

is unclear.

Will it take years, or perhaps never happen at all?

If we say that there is something

that we fully understand,

then we... basically, we are lying to ourselves.

I think that being a geologist,

one of the things I learned is modesty.

The condition in nature are much more complicated

than in the laboratory.

To play it safe, the scientists recommend

bringing in a small amount of Red Sea brine to start.

You don't want to come to help the Dead Sea

and find yourself harming it.

Therefore, the decision is to go in stages.

And if a smaller amount doesn't affect the sea's chemistry,

they'll add in more, bit by bit.

And in the future,