NEW MIDDLE EAST REGIONAL WATER ACTIVITY FLUSH WITH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002954

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/RA LAWSON, OES/PCI PAYNE
TEL AVIV FOR ECON/GUMBINER, USAID/NEWMAN, USGS/GOODE
JERUSALEM FOR ECON/RANZ
NICOSIA FOR ECON/RENZ
AGRICULTURE FOR FAS/LI, FAS/AFFLECK
INTERIOR FOR USGS/LENOX
STATE PASS EPA FOR HOFFER

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL SENV JO MEPP
SUBJECT: NEW MIDDLE EAST REGIONAL WATER ACTIVITY FLUSH WITH
POTENTIAL


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. A recent Middle East regional workshop on
wastewater reuse in agriculture, jointly-organized by USDA,
USEPA, and USGS, brought together about 25 Jordanians,
Palestinians, and Israelis for several days of presentations
and sharing of information and experiences. Despite the
current political climate in the region, all individuals
participated fully, clearly taking advantage of each other's
expertise to learn from one another and to develop personal
relationships on the margins. An unplanned "bonus" of the
workshop was the ability of Turkish Cypriots, whose
attendance was made possible by the relaxing of restrictions
on checkpoint crossings several weeks ago, to interact with
their Greek Cypriot counterparts who helped host the event
in Nicosia. Encouraging bi-communal cooperation on the
Cypriot front with Middle East regional cooperation among
the core peace process parties made for a winning
combination and underscored the necessity for close
coordination on scarce water resources. END SUMMARY.

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EXPANDING THE CIRCLE
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2. (SBU) From May 6-10, USDA, USEPA, and USGS jointly
convened an "International Workshop on Wastewater Reuse and
Water-related Agricultural Practices" in Nicosia, Cyprus,
for Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli technical experts.
Also in attendance were representatives from the Greek and
Turkish Cypriot communities who have been working together
on similar issues of common concern through a bi-communal
project sponsored by the U.S. government. The workshop, the
first such activity bringing together these regional experts
from their respective ministries of water, agriculture, and
environment, was an ambitious undertaking that has already
paid dividends.


3. (SBU) Covering topics from irrigation design, crop water
requirements, water reuse guidelines and regulatory schemes,
reuse practices, treatment technologies, chemical and
microbial pathogens, real-time water quality monitoring, to
artificial recharge, the workshop was a comprehensive
overview of a subject increasingly being explored to stretch
the Middle East's critical water resources. Technical
experts representing the USDA, USEPA, and USGS introduced
the participants to U.S. approaches to wastewater reuse
practices, providing the basis for discussion and some
technology transfer. Each of the core parties presented
their experiences, fostering friendly and constructive
debate on different approaches to the subject.


4. (SBU) We were particularly excited and gratified to
welcome so many new participants to the cooperative regional
water process. For many years, much of the work has
remained within the confines of EXACT (the Executive Action
Committee),an element of the Middle East Peace Process
Multilateral Working Group on Water Resources, and reliant
upon the excellent professional and personal relationships
of the members developed over years of contact. This new
activity represents a new mechanism for increasing regional
cooperation on water-related issues and introduces a new set
of Palestinian, Jordanian, and Israeli actors eager to build
the necessary bridges to peaceful co-existence.

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ATTRACTING INTERNATIONAL DONORS
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5. (SBU) Official representatives from the EU and France, as
well as a Dutch water expert working in the Middle East,
also attended the workshop and shared their experiences in
wastewater reuse. The idea behind including them was to
encourage other international donors to consider
participating in or funding future complementary activities
in the wastewater reuse sphere. This was not lost on the
savvy Palestinians and Jordanians who sought to capitalize
on their presence. The EU, France, and the Netherlands are
already active donors in Middle East regional water
projects, as are the Canadians and Norwegians. The EU
representative indicated by the end of the session that he
would be interested in assisting financially with future
regional wastewater reuse projects involving the core
parties.

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FOLLOW-ON ACTIVITIES
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6. (SBU) At the conclusion of the workshop, the core parties
discussed possible next steps and are anxious to maintain
the momentum by focusing on developing a small regional
project on a topic related to wastewater reuse in
agriculture. With an eye toward penetrating the restrictive
European produce market, there were ambitious discussions
about harmonizing regional wastewater standards and
guidelines but, while we welcomed this optimistic and
forward-thinking approach, all agreed to focus initial
efforts on more achievable short-term projects. We are also
exploring the possibility of a list server to encourage the
continuation of discussion among participants (core parties
and U.S. technical experts alike) as well as the development
of a website highlighting this new cooperative effort on
wastewater reuse.

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COMMENT: OUR FIRST SUCCESS STORY
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7. (SBU) All in all, this was an excellently conceived and
executed workshop, introducing a new topic for regional
cooperation to a broad range and large group of Jordanian,
Palestinian, and Israeli technical experts. We are
confident that the high level of interest and bonds formed
at this inception meeting can be sustained and will produce
further opportunities for collaboration.


8. (SBU) One of the highlights of the workshop was when the
Israeli delegation head, after talking to the Palestinian
leader about problems the Palestinians were having in
building a wastewater treatment plant in Tulkarem, picked up
the phone and put in a call to the Israeli security chief
and local Israeli mayor to get the issue resolved. A
conference call between our Palestinian and Israeli
participants, Israeli Defense Forces, and municipal
officials from both the Palestinian and Israeli towns seems
to have built the necessary trust to put the project back on
track.

GNEHM