this solution in favour of desalination. Jordan receives of water from the river, a quantity which is regulated by the 1994 peace treaty with Israel. In the past, one of the main water resources in Jordan was the Jordan River, with a flow of 1.3 billion m3 per year (BCM/yr). However, after Israel built the National Water Carrier in 1953 and diverted water from Lake Tiberias to Israel's coastal plains and southern desert, the flow of the Lower Jordan River dropped significantly. The 50 MCM/yr that Israel provides from Lake Tiberias as part of the 1994 peace treaty was meant to compensate for this loss. A 2010 study found that the Lower Jordan River has been reduced to 2% of its historic flow. Water quality has also deteriorated sharply, with high levels of salinity and pollution from agricultural fertilizer and untreated wastewater upstream in Israel and the West Bank. Conflict about the waters of the Jordan River was a contributing factor to the Six-Day War when, starting in 1965, Syria attempted to divert some of its headwaters in collaboration with Lebanon and Jordan. The diversion works would have reduced the water availability for Israel's carrier by about 35%, and Israel's overall water supply by about 11%. Religious significance Hebrew Bible In the Hebrew Bible the Jordan is referred to as the source of fertility of a large plain ("Kikkar ha-Yarden"), said to be watered like "the garden of the LORD" (Genesis ). There is no regular description of the Jordan in the Bible; only scattered and indefinite references to it are given. Jacob crossed it and its tributary, the Jabbok (the modern Al-Zarqa), on his way back from Haran (, ). It is noted as the line of demarcation between the "two tribes and the half tribe" settled to the east (Numbers ) and the "nine tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh" that, led by Joshua, settled to the west (, passim). Opposite Jericho, it was called "the Jordan of Jericho" (; ). The Jordan has a number of fords, and one of them is famous as the place where many Ephraimites were slain by Jephthah (Judges ). It seems that these are the same fords mentioned as being near Beth-barah, where Gideon lay in wait for the Midianites (). In the plain of the Jordan, between Succoth and Zarthan, is the clay ground where Solomon had his brass-foundries