Mediterranean Sea factors. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 created the first salt-water passage between the Mediterranean and Red Sea. The Red Sea is higher than the Eastern Mediterranean, so the canal serves as a tidal strait that pours Red Sea water into the Mediterranean. The Bitter Lakes, which are hyper-saline natural lakes that form part of the canal, blocked the migration of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean for many decades, but as the salinity of the lakes gradually equalised with that of the Red Sea, the barrier to migration was removed, and plants and animals from the Red
Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance flow to about 100 million cubic metres a year (MCM/yr) (mainly brackish water and sewage). The decline of the Dead Sea level is creating major environmental problems, including sink holes and receding sea shores. Other routes for a conduit for the same objectives as the Red - Dead Conduit, the Mediterranean–Dead Sea Canal, were proposed in Israel in the 1980s, but were discarded. The project costs $10 billion in all of its phases, with the first phase, which is slated to begin construction in 2021, will cost $1.1 billion. The Jordanian government is currently in the process of shortlisting consortiums