Red-Dead Feasibility Study Launch - Hopeful Start

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 008959 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV ECON PREL XF JO SUBJECT: Red-Dead Feasibility Study Launch - Hopeful Start AMMAN 00008959 001.4 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Summary: The World Bank and regional beneficiaries Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority launched the $15.5 million feasibility study and environmental and social assessment for the Red Sea to Dead Sea Water Conveyance project on December 10. With only $8.8 million in contributions so far, the first order of business is to find another $6.7 million to fully fund the study. End summary. -------------- Financing the Study Itself is a Challenge -------------- ¶2. (U) BACKGROUND: The two-year World Bank-led feasibility study will examine the technical, economic, environmental, and financial feasibility of a multi-billion dollar project to pump 1,900 million cubic meters (MCM) a year of seawater from the Gulf of Aqaba through massive pipes to the Dead Sea to arrest declining water levels, and to return the Dead Sea's water level to the historical mean of 395 meters below sea level. In addition, the project aims to generate electricity, and desalinate 850 MCM of water per year for drinking. The residual brine from the desalination process would go into the Dead Sea. ¶3. (U) In April 2005, after protracted negotiations, the beneficiary parties -- Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians -- agreed on terms of reference for Red-Dead, and asked the World Bank to help raise the funds and manage the study. Between April 2005 and December 2006, the World Bank managed to raise $8.8 million dollars, including support from the Netherlands, France, Japan, and a $1.5 million contribution out of the budget of USAID/Jordan's water portfolio. END BACKGROUND. ¶4. (SBU) World Bank Director of Water, Environment, Social and Rural Development for the Middle East and North Africa Inger Andersen told the meeting participants that there are two components of the overall study. One component is an environmental and social assessment. The other is a feasibility study of the technical and financial aspects. Both the feasibility study and the environmental and social assessment will consist of four sub-studies examining: 1) the intake area in Aqaba, 2) the conveyance through Wadi Araba, 3) the Dead Sea area, and 4) around the hydropower and desalination facilities. The procurement process (www.worldbank.org/rds-procurement) will move forward while the World Bank and the beneficiary parties try to find the remaining financing. The contracts will not be let though, said Andersen, unless all of the money is in place. With the procurement process expected to be completed by summer 2007, the race to find the remaining money is on. -------------- Same Bed, Different Dreams -------------- ¶5. (U) Ambassador, AID Mission Director and NEA Senior S&T Advisor Chuck Lawson attended the December 10 launch for the U.S. Eleven other countries attended, including the UK, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, the European Commission, Norway, Japan, China, Egypt, France and Germany. The beneficiary parties were represented by Jordan's Minister of Water and Irrigation Zafer Alem, Israel's Minister of National Infrastructure Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, and Economic Advisor to the President of the Palestinian Authority Mohammed Mustafa. ¶6. (U) During their respective remarks, the representatives of the beneficiary parties all mentioned the importance of political cooperation and economic development among the parties; the cultural, environmental, and touristic importance of arresting the meter-per-year drop in the level of the Dead Sea; and the 850 million cubic meters of desalinated water that would eventually come from Red-Dead. Jordanian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Suhair al-Ali, noting the value of tourism, called the Dead Sea the world's largest spa as well as a global cultural treasure. -------------- -------------- Donors Raise Public Participation, Water Conservation -------------- -------------- ¶7. (U) Several issues were brought up by the U.S. and other delegations. There was general appreciation expressed towards the beneficiary parties' cooperative efforts on Red-Dead. Concerns were voiced, however, over ensuring adequate public participation in the study. Donors also want to see that management of water resources is discussed as part of Red-Dead. The mega-project, donors said, should explore conserving scarce water resources, not just look at new options for supply. The World Bank assured donors that Red-Dead has opportunities throughout for public comment and interaction, and that the causal factors of water decline in the Dead Sea would also be examined. Beneficiary parties will be required to submit a water AMMAN 00008959 002.3 OF 002 management plan on water conservation and efficiency as part of the study. -------------- Outcome Not Pre-Determined -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The outcome of the feasibility study is not pre-cooked. The World Bank and donors, including the USG, have emphasized the need for a thorough, credible, and professional study that will answer serious questions about the technical aspects, the financial ramifications and environmental impacts of Red-Dead. The study, says the World Bank, will also compare Red-Dead with other options, including the status quo with no additional interventions, and will draw heavily on earlier and ongoing studies. At this time, the USG has no financial commitments in place or currently contemplated beyond the one-time, $1.5 million contribution for the feasibility study. -------------- Engineering Firms Eager -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Consulting engineering firms from around the world are already eagerly expressing interest in the feasibility study. The World Bank is adamant that the Red-Dead study be credible, and therefore, has separated the activity into two separate, but interrelated actions: the water conveyance feasibility study, and the environmental and social assessment. The same firm will not be able to do both the feasibility study and the environmental and social assessment. At this time, the Bank has not determined whether a firm that implements the study or assessment can also implement the project itself. -------------- Some Press Reports Are Off-Base -------------- ¶10. (SBU) During her remarks, the World Bank's Inger Andersen stressed the importance of transparency, public participation, and getting information to the media and to the community. This will be a significant challenge. Some off-base media reports have already appeared in Egyptian and Jordanian newspapers expressing concerns over the use of Red-Dead as a stealth vehicle for Israeli construction in the Negev, and as a potential challenger to the Suez Canal. The World Bank urged the use of the term "conveyance" rather than "canal" to debunk the latter concern. -------------- Layers of Management and Advice -------------- ¶11. (U) The management of the project will be handled by a four-way (World Bank, Israel, Jordan, Palestinian) Technical Steering Committee and a working level Study Management Unit -- with the same four parties but different individuals -- to manage day-to-day decision-making. The World Bank is also creating an independent advisory panel of experts. The composition and selection procedures for the expert panel are not firm, but World Bank Water and Sanitation Specialist Alex McPhail, who will manage Red-Dead for the Bank, said that these would be individuals who have the judgment and experience to look at Red-Dead from both qualitative and quantitative aspects. ¶12. (SBU) Comment: No one disputes that the Dead Sea is in trouble and needs help. Its water level is falling, and its surface area is now half of what it was. With fresh water inflows estimated at less than 10% of what they were forty years ago, it's no wonder. Much of that water is taken off upstream in the Jordan and Yarmouk Rivers for agriculture and municipal use by Israel, Jordan and Syria. The potash factories at the southern end of the Dead Sea are also significant users. By the end of 2009, the study should inform us on whether the Red-Dead project is economically and environmentally feasible or not. RUBINSTEIN