The Arava Stream (, Nahal HaArava) is an

intermittent stream Intermittent, temporary or seasonal rivers or streams cease to flow every year or at least twice every five years. Such rivers drain large arid and semi-arid areas, covering approximately a third of the Earth's surface. The extent of temporary ...

(occasionally flowing in the rainy, winter season) that flows from the approximate mid-point of the Arava desert in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

's Southern District northward. It is 89 km long, and in many parts, serves as the actual border between Israel and Jordan. The stream originates on the crest of the Notza Ridge, which forms the watershed divide between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea, and from which all streams in the Arava desert flow either north to the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

or south to the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

. The stream's prominent tributaries include: Nahal Paran, Nahal Barak, Nahal Tzin, Nahal Tzafit, and Nahal Nekorot. In addition to Israel and Jordan, parts of its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

are in the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

."Synoptic-Scale Control over Modern Rainfall and Flood Patterns in the Levant Drylands with Implications for Past Climates"
/ref>

Northern flow

The Dead Sea 1972-2011 - NASA Earth Observatory

The stream flows into the area of

evaporation pond Evaporation ponds are artificial ponds with very large surface areas that are designed to efficiently evaporate water by sunlight and expose water to the ambient temperatures. Evaporation ponds are inexpensive to design making them ideal for mul ...

s in what used to be the southernmost end of the

and divides these ponds into the

area (managed by the

Dead Sea Works The Dead Sea Works (, ''Mif'alei Yam HaMelakh'') is an Israeli potash plant in Sdom, on the Dead Sea coast of Israel. History Under the British administration, concessions from the Mandatory government were given. On January 1, 1930, the "Con ...

) and the

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

area. After passing the evaporation ponds, it drains into the Dead Sea"Industry-Driven versus Natural Groundwater Flow Regime at the Dead Sea Coastal Aquifer"
/ref> parallel to the

brine Brine (or briny water) is a high-concentration solution of salt (typically sodium chloride or calcium chloride) in water. In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawat ...

drain channel. After the Dead Sea basin was severed into the northern and southern parts, the area between them turned into dry seabed. It is a dangerous area due to

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

s and

land mines A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, whi ...

, and the entrance there is prohibited."Restoring Natural Resources"
a Dead Sea Works report The banks of the Arava Stream (and the brine channel) had become eroded in the area, and the continued erosion endangers the stability of the evaporation ponds. Also the seasonal floods of the stream present danger to the chemical plants in the

Mount Sodom Mount Sodom (, ''Har Sedom'') is a hill along the southwestern part of the Dead Sea in Israel; it is part of the Judaean Desert Nature Reserve. It takes its name from the biblical city of Sodom, whose destruction is the subject of a narrative i ...

area. A correspondent of

Kan 11 Kan 11 ( ) is an Israeli state-owned free-to-air television channel. Operated by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC), it launched on 15 May 2017, replacing Channel 1 after the closure of the Israel Broadcasting Authority. It is ...

TV channel

Oren Aharoni Oren Aharoni (; born November 12, 1973) is an Israeli basketball coach and former basketball player. He played the guard position. Aharoni played in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, and on the Israeli national basketball team. Biography Ah ...

wrote a series of articles about the northern path of the Arava Stream and dubbed it a new "secret river" because it is mostly unknown to the general public."Israel's not so secret new river"
by Shani Ashkenazi, ''

Globes A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe o ...

'', January 22, 2020

References

External links

Rivers of Israel Rivers of Jordan {{Coord, 31.3289, 35.4291, format=dms, type:river, display=title