The holy river is about to die

The Jordan River, where Jesus is baptized, is heavily polluted and may "die" next year if pollution is not prevented.

A section of the Jordan River.Photo: blueguez.com .

At 217 km long, the Jordan River stretches from Lake Galilee to the Dead Sea. Its branches pour into Israel, Jordan, Syria and the Palestinian West Bank. Christians believe Jesus once baptized in this river before he was crucified.

When a US naval officer explored the Jordan River in 1847, he described it as a place with many large vertical falls. But today its width is only a few meters.

According to AFP, the Friends of the Earth organization announced that the Jordan River is only a small saltwater stream south of the Lake Galilee sea (northeast of Israel). The river is narrowed by over-exploitation, pollution and indifference by regional authorities. Israel, Syria and Jordan have exploited more than 98% of the river's flow over the years. The river used to contain 1.3 billion cubic meters of water per year, but now it only supplies the Dead Sea with about 20 to 30 million cubic meters of water.

'The remaining flow in the Jordan River mainly contains garbage, water from fish ponds, agricultural waste and salt water. Without concrete action, the river will run out by the end of 2011 , 'the report of Friends of the Earth stated.

A dam a few kilometers south of the lake of Galilee cut across the river. In the south of the dam, sewage discharges from a pipe. That is the source of water for the Jordan River.

'Nobody can say it is holy water. Nobody says it is acceptable for a famous river all over the world , 'said Gidon Bromberg, director of the Friends of the Earth branch in Israel.

A few meters away from the water pipe, a stream of saline water flows into the bubbling brown water. Salt water comes from many nearby saline streams, but it is allowed to flow into the river to protect the Lake Galilee.

Despite the heavy pollution of the Jordan River, several thousand followers still come here every year to jump into the water. Meanwhile Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian communities along the river bank - a total of about 34,000 people - dump their garbage daily.

The paradox is that if the wastewater does not continue to flow into the river, it will "die" earlier because of the presence of salt water. Friends of the Earth believes that the best solution is to pump a huge amount of freshwater - at least 400 million cubic meters a year - into the Jordan River to help it revive. In addition, Israel, Syria and Jordan also have to return water to the Jordan River. The revival of the Jordan River will also lead to a brighter prospect for the Dead Sea, which is also heavily polluted.