TRILATERAL WATER MEETING: PLANNING TO MEET SCARCITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001400



SENSITIVE

SIPDIS



DEPT FOR NEA/IAI, NEA/REA and OES/ENV

USDA FOR FAS/OCBD

EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL

AMMAN for ESTH



E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: SENV, EINV, TBIO, IS, PA, JO

SUBJ: Trilateral Water Meeting: Planning to Meet Scarcity



1. (SBU) Summary: The Trilateral Water Working Group (TWWG) of

Israeli and Palestinian water authority managers met in Tel Aviv on

June 12, under USG chairing at USG auspices, to review the region's

water supply situation. Substandard rainfalls for four years have

left natural water sources at record low levels, risking ecological

damage to Lake Tiberias and underground aquifers if previous

consumption rates continue. PA officials say illegal tapping of

resources exists because Palestinian water rights have been ignored,

creating a severe shortage, especially in Gaza. Israeli authorities

reviewed their own drought conditions and the actions they are

taking to address them. Israel believes the PA should undertake

more wastewater recycling for agricultural use. The status of

several water and wastewater development projects was reviewed.

Slow implementation of these projects was attributed to ongoing

security concerns and problems in getting supplies into Gaza and the

West Bank. GOI officials said that access into PA areas for pipes

and other project materials can be arranged, given sufficient

information. Both parties agreed that the coming year will need

ongoing adjustment to scarcer, costlier water supplies. End

Summary.



2. (SBU) The TWWG meeting June 12 came in a period of flux, amidst

press reports of bidding procedures over major new desalination

facilities and the airing of several mega-projects proposed to

resolve the region's water worries, such as a Red Sea-Dead Sea

channel providing both water and electricity. Further, issues of

environmental pollution, waste treatment and public health are

increasingly allied to the problem of water management. In Gaza,

the tension between HAMAS and Fatah within the PA started to

register in the Palestine Water Authority (PWA),which until now has

resisted politicization. A new head of the PWA replacing a veteran

of previous negotiations also lent importance to the meeting. While

no official transcript is made of TWWG proceedings, post repeats

below the memorandum done following the meetings for the information

of Washington agencies and posts with interest in the topic.



3. (SBU) Begin Memorandum:



Welcome & U.S. Presentation



Introductory remarks by USAID D/Dir David Harden noted the long

history of the Working Group, which started in 1996 after the Oslo

Peace Accords in 1994. For twelve years the group has met

periodically to address both policy and practical questions relating

to the sourcing and distribution of water. In recent years the

treatment of waste water has become an integral part of TWWG

discussions. Harden stressed the importance of maintaining contacts

among professional government managers throughout the changes in

political atmosphere. Harden also praised the guidance of Chuck

Lawson who has chaired the Working Group over its history, but will

shortly be leaving the State Department. All the parties echoed

thanks to Lawson for his work. Lawson expressed appreciation to the

group for its hard work over a dozen years, and welcomed Dr. Shaddad

Attili as the new chairman of the Palestine Water Authority (PWA),

replacing Fadel Al-Kawash.



The Situation in Palestinian Areas



Attili described the water situation in PA areas as a drought, now

extended for several years. Attili expressed disappointment that 13

years after the Interim Agreement was signed, the Palestinians are

receiving no more water than they were in 1995. Under the

agreement, both sides agreed that Palestinians have approximately

118 million cubic meters (MCM) a year available to them. According

to Attili, that figure has not changed much in the intervening

years. The agreement made available an additional 70-80 MCM/year,

mostly from the Eastern Aquifer. Attili said that not much of that

additional water had been developed. The Israeli team noted that

Israel sells approximately 50 MCM/year to the Palestinians in the

West Bank. The matter of water rights due to Palestinians has been

ignored, Attili believes (though he recognized that that issue is to

be addressed in the permanent status water negotiations). The

present dire situation presses some people to drill illegal wells,

and Attili said this only hurts the PWA as it damages the aquifer.

Attili said the Israeli government refuses to grant approvals to dig

new wells or to construct new waste water facilities as long as

these illegal wells remain open. Attili is commited to closing

illegal wells, and asked for Israeli assistance to do this:

provision of sufficient water is the only way to suppress illegal



drilling.



Regarding Gaza, Attili said that 85 percent of the water distributed

exceeds the accepted standards for dissolved nitrates. Tap water is

brackish and unhealthy, and the condition of the Gaza aquifer is

deteriorating. The lack of fuel and intermittent power supply

seriously affects water pumping and waste water operations. Attili

said only about 65% of wells are operating, and the volume of water

pumped is down 60% from last year's levels due to inadequate power.

Attili added that the HAMAS takeover in Gaza has vastly complicated

the PWA's work. HAMAS took over the PWA's Gaza offices about ten

days ago, seizing cars and other property, and locking employees out

of the office.



Attili also discussed the effluent situation from Ariel that is

flowing into Israel and polluting the aquifer both Israel and the PA

must draw on. Shaddad stressed the need to work together on

wastewater treatment issues. Three of Gaza's wastewater treatment

plants are non-functional, with the result that 60,000 cm per day of

untreated or poorly treated wastewater are pumped into the

Mediterranean from Gaza and 30,000 cm per day from Rafah.



Asked about his "vision" for the PWA, Attili said that the problems

he faced were so dire that his vision consisted only of crisis

management. He said international donors are providing sufficient

funding for projects, but the pressing need of the health of the

aquifers is not being adequately addressed. He also cited a

critical need to address delays in permitting for wells and other

projects that necessitate costly penalty payments to contractors.



Israeli Emergency Action



Israel Water Authority (IWA) Director Dr. Uri Shani began his

overview by noting the measures taken by the GOI in its National

Water Emergency Plan adopted June 1, 2008. Agricultural users have

been cut back by 40 percent, and various demand management policies

have gone into effect. He defined the red-line level and black-line

levels of Lake Kinneret (Tiberias),previously the major source for

Israel's National Water Carrier Mekorot. The red-line is defined as

the point beyond which withdrawing water from the source may risk

ecological damage to the lake or aquifer. The black-line is the

point beyond which such ecological damage could be severe and

irreversible. Shani expected Israel to reach the red-line level in

Lake Kinneret during July, and he was determined that the black-line

level should not be reached.



Shani noted that over half of all water used by Israeli agriculture

is treated wastewater -- about 70 percent of the annual wastewater

Israel generates. The GOI will invest heavily in the coming five

years to build facilities to treat the 80 mcm of Israeli wastewater

that is not currently recycled. A NIS 12 billion investment in

desalination plants is planned in coming years. Ultimately,

desalination will supply two-thirds of Israel's domestic use water.





Responding to the questions of water rights and legal entitlements,

Shani observed that the region's natural water is simply decreasing,

for a variety of reasons including rainfall patterns and global

warming. The reality is that we cannot share what we do not have,

so discussion of rights does not solve the problem. Water in the

future inevitably will be a more expensive resource, although Shani

promised that water allocations made to the PA would not be cut,

even under the Emergency Plan measures. This amount the IWA

understands to be 118 mcm, plus about another 50 mcm that the PWA is

purchasing from Israeli suppliers. Shani said the PWA's recent

request for an additional 8 mcm would also be met, but cautioned

that the Palestinians have to develop a water recycling capacity.



Joint Water Committee Activities



Attili noted that holding a Joint Water Committee (JWC) meeting was

hard to do: he has tried to organize it for several months, but

Israeli Civil Administration did not approve. Members of the

Israeli delegation responded that political circumstances had at

times intervened, making such meetings impossible. The confusion of

authority in PWA offices in Gaza at the time of the TWWG is an

example. Regarding the implementation of JWC water projects listed

at the August 14, 2007 JWC, the parties agreed that a number have

been completed, though others remain incomplete due to a political

situation that makes entry of construction materials difficult.

Joint training in water management (held under the auspices of the

Regional Water Data Banks project) was held in Tiberias, Israel, May

25-29; Israeli and Jordanian professionals attended, but due to

access problems the Palestinian delegation could not participate.

All parties agreed that it was essential to resolve access problems

for the training courses to be effective.



The Gaza wastewater situation was reviewed, and all parties agreed

it needs to improve. Unreliable power has halted treatment plant

operations, although pumping to infiltration ponds continues. With

new pipes expected from France by September, the World Bank's North

Gaza Emergency Sewage Treatment project will become operational

after they are installed.



USAID projects in Beit Jala and Nahal Oz were reviewed. In Beit

Jala the first phase is nearing completion, but USAID

representatives noted that additional approvals are needed to

undertake phase II work. The Israeli Civil Administration has

positively reviewed the plans, but no permits have been issued. The

Nahal Oz connection to Mekorot was confirmed as still incomplete.

While this work was planned and Norwegian assistance funds were

programmed for the work, there is no action underway to finish the

connection because of security concerns in Gaza. The Palestinian

and Israeli teams agreed that a new waste water treatment facility

for the Hebron area is a top priority, and they expressed

disappointment that the USG had not yet taken on the project again.

(Note: the USG had agreed to fund the Hebron waste water treatment

project, but the project was put on hold when HAMAS took control of

the PA in 1996. The funds for the project were subsequently used

for other activities. End note.)



The date for the next TWWG meeting was not set; however the

consensus was to expect a meeting in six months.

End of TWWG Memorandum.

4. This cable has been drafted jointly by Embassy Tel Aviv and

Consulate General Jerusalem.



Jones