CSIS-SANDIA IN TURKEY FOR GLOBAL WATER PROJECT

UNCLAS ANKARA 006464 SIPDIS USDOE FOR CHARLES WASHINGTON USDOC FOR 4212/ITA/MAC/CPD/CRUSNAK SIPDIS E.O. 12958:N/A TAGS: ENGR SENV EAGR TU SUBJECT: CSIS-SANDIA IN TURKEY FOR GLOBAL WATER PROJECT ¶1. Summary: Collaborating on policy and technology aspects of their "Global Water Futures" project, CSIS (Center for Strategic Studies) and Sandia National Laboratories sent a joint delegation to Turkey as one of five countries of focus in the second phase of the project. The Delegation met with the Embassy, the Water Administration (DSI),the GAP administration, and the Minister of Agriculture, and participated in a roundtable on global water challenges at a local think tank. End Summary. ¶2. CSIS and Sandia Labs have collaborated on a "Global Water Futures" project whose first phase produced a broad range of policy and technology solutions on global water challenges. The current second phase aims to identify in more specific terms how water availability, water quality, and water management affect economic development, public health, stability, and security at a regional level. Selecting Turkey as one of five countries facing a variety of water challenges, the project aims to complete a field study focusing on diverse water issues such as the role of agriculture in the economy, the development of irrigation to support agriculture, trends in water and sanitation management, transboundary rivers and prospects for integrated water resource management, the development of water infrastructure and its effects on economic development, the ongoing efforts of the Southeast Anatolia Project (GAP) and water basin management. ¶3. The seven person delegation was led by Erik Pederson, Senior VP, CSIS and Peter Davies, Director, Sandia Labs Geoscience and Environment Center. The Embassy briefed the team on November 13 on Turkey's trans-boundary issues, dialogue wih neighbors, long process on the water portionof the environment chapter for EU accession, and Ilisu Dam (determination to move forward, with or without European financing). Sandia's Howard Passell briefed on the successful hydrographic modeling workshop held just before in Amman with participants from Turkish and Syrian NGOs and Iraqi government officials, noting that it had contributed to technical confidence building. The CSIS-Sandia team also met with MFA, DSI (water administration),GAP, and the Minister of Agriculture, and participated in a water roundtable at a local think-tank on approaches to global water problems. Part of the team was going to continue on to Istanbul to focus on water and sanitation management in that "mega-city". WILSON