BREAKING NEWS

Dead Sea hotels appeal to court over rising water levels

The Hotels Association has turned to the High Court of Appeals to stave off potentially relocating some of the Dead Sea hotels farther inland. Last Thursday, the association filed a petition on the grounds that the state was taking too long to make a decision.
It also contended that the option of relocating the hotels had not been presented to the court at any time. The association wants the salt to be harvested first instead. While the northern basin of the Dead Sea is shrinking, the southern basin – in essence a series of artificial industrial pools – is actually rising. The mining companies sift the minerals from the water and let the salt fall back in, thus creating an ever higher artificial floor to pool number 5, which borders the hotels.
The government is expected to choose from one of three alternatives in the near future: relocating the hotels, harvesting all of the salt in the pool, or harvesting enough to create a lagoon around the hotels.