Nova

Saving The Dead Sea

There's no place on Earth like it. Cleopatra attributed her beauty to its secrets. King Herod built one of the world's first health spas on its shores. And as the biblical story goes, "rocks and fire falling from the sky" buried Sodom and Gomorrah and the sea became "the sea of salt" -- The Dead Sea. Now this wonder of the world is dying. Since 1976, its level has declined by more than sixty-five feet. Its coastline is pockmarked with thousands of sinkholes. Can the Dead Sea be saved? After more than a decade of research and debate, scientists, engineers and political leaders have come up with a daring plan, one that could not only save the sea but help bring stability to a region rife with conflict. NOVA follows this unprecedented endeavor - perhaps the world's largest water chemistry experiment ever - as scientists and engineers race to save the Dead Sea and help bring water to one of the driest regions on Earth.