WATER POLLUTION INCIDENT TO CAST BLAME ON MINISTRY

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 000906

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/RA, AND OES
STATE PASS TO AID
CAIRO FOR VIALA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/16/2019
TAGS: SENV PREL EAGR EAID PGOV JO IS
SUBJECT: WATER POLLUTION INCIDENT TO CAST BLAME ON MINISTRY
OF WATER

REF: A. AMMAN 860

B. AMMAN 508

C. 08 AMMAN 3011

D. 08 AMMAN 1639

E. 08 AMMAN 409

Classified By: CDA Natalie E. Brown for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Jordanian Ministry of Water and
Irrigation (MWI) on March 13 suspended pumping water for two
days from the King Abdullah Canal, which supplies Amman with
one-third of its water needs, after detecting oil and sewage
in the waterways. Jordanian authorities determined that the
contamination originated from Israel and was possibly caused
by flooding due to recent heavy rainfalls. Jordan discarded
approximately 50,000 cubic meters of polluted water, cleaned
the polluted part of the canal and refilled it with fresh
water provided by Israel. Although no known health hazards
resulted from the water contamination, the incident has
generated severe criticism by lawmakers against MWI and
Israel along with extensive newspaper coverage. MWI has
defended Israel, noting that Israel compensated Jordan for
the polluted water by providing over three times the amount
of fresh water. The Jordanian Lower House formed a committee
chaired by former Agriculture Minister Hashem Shboul to
investigate water pollution in the King Abdullah Canal.
Shboul indicated to Post that the committee has found no
intentional wrongdoing by Israel and would likely blame the
Jordanian MWI for failing to do its job. Shboul believes
that Minister Abu Saud may be asked to step down. END
SUMMARY.

Pollution Incident
--------------


2. (U) MWI suspended on March 13, pumping water for two days
from the King Abdullah Canal to the Zai Drinking Water
Treatment Plant in Amman after detecting oil and sewage in
the canal. Bordering Israel in the north, the 110-kilometer
King Abdullah Canal has a capacity of 300,000 cubic meters
and is considered a significant source of water for the
country, providing the capital Amman with one-third of its
drinking water. The quality of the water in the canal is
dependent on the neighboring countries, as most of the water
originates in Israel or Syria. MWI has speculated that
floods caused by recent heavy rainfalls could have generated
the pollution, explaining that valleys extending from the
Golan Heights were the source of the pollution.

Water Compensation by Israel Outweighs Losses
--------------


3. (SBU) Jordan Valley Authority Secretary General Mousa
Jamaani reported to the press on March 18 that Jordan
discarded 50,000 cubic meters of polluted water and after
cleaning up the polluted part of the canal, was refilling it
with fresh water provided by Israel from Lake Tiberius. He
elaborated that Israel compensated Jordan with 180,000 cubic
meters of fresh water after the pollution event and will
provide another 50,000-60,000 cubic meters of water from Lake
Tiberius this summer as part of the compensation. He noted
that the water received from Israel after the incident was
much greater than that lost, and measures were taken to
prevent further pollution. Jamaani also stated that Israel
responded in a timely manner to contain the pollution in
accordance with the Jordan-Israel peace treaty. NOTE: The
press has highlighted that this is the second incident of
polluted water coming from Israel. In 1998, water pumped
from Lake Tiberius was contaminated with sewage and caused
the Zai water treatment plant to shut down for an extended
period of time. END NOTE.

Public Debate Results in Significant Media Coverage
-------------- --------------


4. (SBU) Due to the sensitivity and extent of the pollution,
the incident has generated severe criticism by lawmakers
against MWI, along with extensive newspaper coverage.
Parliamentarians have accused MWI of insufficient or faulty
water quality monitoring equipment. The Islamic Action Front
(IAF) has demanded the dismissal of MWI Minister Raed Abu
Saud, the MWI Secretary General, and Secretary General of the
Jordan Valley Authority in the wake of what it called "the
scandal brought about by the Zionist entity's act of
polluting Jordanian waters." Abu Saud has defended Israel
and the MWI water quality testing system, stating that his
Ministry had the crisis under control from the beginning. He
claimed the pollution was discovered due to MWI periodical
lab tests of the King Abdullah Canal's water. The Minister
further explained that water heading to the canal is
monitored via 14 early detection stations, adding that
reports about malfunctions at those stations were "untrue."

Parliamentary Committee to Blame Water Minister
-------------- --


5. (C) Jordan's Lower House formed on March 24, an ad-hoc
committee chaired by former Agriculture Minister and
parliamentarian Hashem Shboul to investigate water pollution
in the King Abdullah Canal. During an April 14 meeting with
Poloffs, MP Shboul noted the committee would issue its
findings shortly. Shboul indicated that the release of
polluted water into the canal was "surely not intentional" on
the Israeli side. He appreciated that Jordan received
generous amounts of water from Israel in compensation for the
incident and that the technical cooperation between the two
sides had ultimately worked as it was supposed to. Shboul
went on to assign the blame to the Jordanian side, chiding
Minister Abu Saud for his "shocking" lack of political sense
in traveling to Turkey for the World Water Forum in the
middle of the scandal. He said the committee was surprised
to discover that the Minister had never visited key parts of
Jordan's water infrastructure, including the canal where the
polluted water was transmitted, and was largely ignorant of
how Jordan's water system really worked on the ground.
Shboul also noted that there is a successful joint
Jordanian-Israeli committee which deals with the technical
aspects of cross-border water issues, but Abu Saud failed to
utilize it. His ultimate conclusion was that MWI "is not
doing its job" and that Abu Saud may be asked to step down.


6. (C) COMMENT: While basic water quality monitoring in
Jordan is relatively good, some of the blame for lax MWI
responsiveness is probably justified. Although the MWI
Minister may be a logical scapegoat, Abu Saud is an
experienced hand at navigating political turbulence and his
dismissal seems unlikely at this time. The fact that the
Minister has been able to initiate a Red-Dead Jordan-only
project study with indigenous funding points to his clout
within the current government (Ref A). END COMMENT.

Visit Amman's Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman


Brown