US embassy cable - 05AMMAN9483

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 009483 
 
SIPDIS 
 
Interior for USGS/International/Foose 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV, KPAL, XF, IS, JO 
SUBJECT: MEPN: Multilateral Working Group on Water 
Resources: Meeting of the Regional Water Data Banks Project 
Steering Committee 
 
1.  The Steering Committee for the Middle East Regional 
Water Data Banks project (known by the acronym EXACT - 
Executive Action Team) met November 29-December 1 in 
Brussels for one of its semi-annual meetings. 
Representatives from the USG, Israel, the Palestinian 
Authority, Jordan and three other donors (EU, UK, and The 
Netherlands) participated. The Data Banks project has 
operated continuously since it was established in 1995, even 
throughout the five years of the Intifada, and EXACT has met 
22 times.  It now enjoys strong joint leadership from the 
core parties of Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian 
Authority.  Their focus for the next several years will be 
on training.  End summary. 
 
Participants 
------------ 
 
2.  NEA Senior Advisor for Science and Technology Dr. 
Charles Lawson chaired the Brussels meeting.  Palestinian 
Water Authority Director Fadel Kawash, Israeli MFA Acting 
Deputy Director General for the Middle East Yaccov Keidar, 
and Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation Assistant 
Secretary General Fayez Bataineh represented the core 
 
SIPDIS 
parties.  European Union, UK, and Dutch officials, as active 
donors to the Data Banks project, participated, as did their 
technical consultants.  France, which has supported project 
activities in the past, did not participate; although France 
committed earlier this year to support a new activity, it 
has not been able to secure funding for it.  Australia and 
Switzerland have expressed interest in supporting project 
activities but similarly have not yet found funds to do so. 
 
Regional Training Initiative to Set Framework 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
3.  A major new focus of the Data Banks project driven by 
core parties' expressed interest is the Regional Training 
Initiative.  Palestinian Water Authority Director Kawash 
made a strong pitch for the Regional Training Initiative, 
noting that the Palestinian Authority not only needs 
training but also needs the regional cooperation and 
exposure to new ideas and new technologies that the Regional 
Training Initiative would provide.  U.S. representative and 
meeting Chair Lawson said that the USG is prepared to 
contribute expertise towards the development of the 
initiative's implementation plan and to support training 
activities identified in such a plan. 
 
4.  The Training Initiative implementation plan will first 
assess current capacity, evaluate needs, and then lay out a 
framework for delivering training to address gaps and 
shortfalls.  While the USG will support a number of training 
activities, the core parties should be able to use the plan 
to engage the support of additional donors as well.  The 
framework would identify the types of training needed, the 
appropriate recipients, who would give the training, 
information sources, the best means for providing training, 
and other specifics. 
 
5.  Palestinian Water Authority Director Fadel Kawash 
suggested several times that study tours would be a useful 
component of a training framework.  Israeli delegate Moshe 
Yisraeli commented that training should go into more depth 
on certain issues and generate some continuity, rather than 
continuously starting new projects and new topics.  An 
"outside the box" idea was to provide training on 
presentation skills (e.g. making a presentation at a 
meeting), since people who are called on to do this may be 
inexperienced and uncomfortable in public speaking. 
 
Donor Reports on Wide Range of Water Projects 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
6.  Donor countries reported on their particular Data Banks 
project activities. These projects can include expert 
visits, training sessions, provision of hardware, and 
development of databases and software tools.  Management of 
wastewater was highlighted several times as a difficult and 
important issue from both the pollution prevention aspect 
and from its status as an underexploited water source. 
European Union (EU) representatives outlined several EU 
water projects being done in the Middle East and 
Mediterranean region. 
 
7.  A list of projects currently supported by donors 
includes: 
** water treatment (decontamination), 
** artificial recharge of aquifers from surface water, 
** development of a decision support system for optimizing 
wastewater treatment, 
** groundwater modeling, 
** developing a monitoring network and baseline data for 
wastewater quality, 
** flood prediction, 
** rainfall intensity, 
** water harvesting, 
** qualitative management of aquifers threatened by 
pollution and salinization, 
** a water sample testing program, 
** movement of water through aquifers, and 
** the impact of wastewater on water quality, with an eye 
towards pollution prevention and remediation. 
 
Some Bumps in the Road 
---------------------- 
 
8.  Several core party representatives made the point on 
multiple occasions that the presence of both diplomatic and 
technical consulting personnel in the region, as opposed to 
being located in European capitals, makes the projects much 
more effective, since problems can be identified and solved 
more quickly.  While the core parties are very pleased with 
the progress of Data Banks project activities, some problems 
do exist.  They include a lack of coordination between the 
donor and the core party, a lack of internal coordination by 
a core party or a donor, budgetary shortfalls, logistical 
problems with Customs authorities or with incorrectly 
specified procurement, delays with bid tenders, a lack of 
access due to security issues, and scheduling difficulties. 
 
Participants Also Discuss Broader Issues 
---------------------------------------- 
 
9.  In addition to discussing specific projects, EXACT also 
provides a forum for multilateral discussion of broader 
water issues.  Israeli representative Keidar suggested that 
the time might be ripe for restarting the Water Working 
Group of the Multilateral Peace Process, perhaps with an 
informal meeting of interested parties or a steering 
committee meeting.  U.S. rep Lawson gave a brief overview of 
the U.S.-supported Middle East Desalination Research Center 
based in Muscat, Oman.  Palestinian Water Authority Director 
Kawash also said that he hopes to see other regional 
countries like Syria and Lebanon join EXACT.  Following the 
EXACT meeting, the core parties visited the European 
Commission and the Council of Europe to describe EXACT to 
high-level groups. 
 
EXACT Website to be Managed by Israeli Water Commission 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
10.  Prior to the plenary session of EXACT, the core parties 
met as a group, the donor countries met separately as a 
group, and following those meetings, there were bilateral 
consultations between individual donors and individual core 
parties. 
 
11.  One result of the core party consultations was that the 
Israel Water Commission agreed to host the EXACT website 
(http://exact-me.org - note: no WWW prefix), currently 
hosted on U.S. Geological Survey computers.  With the 
retirement of USGS stalwarts Anna Lenox and Bill Shampine, 
management of EXACT has migrated from USGS to USDA.  For 
many years, the USG has urged the core parties to take over 
management of the website and have the server in the region. 
The Israeli Water Commission has agreed to host the website. 
 
12.  Comment: EXACT is a clear example of U.S. leadership, 
commitment and seed money bringing Israelis, Palestinians 
and Jordanians together - and engaging other donors - to 
make a real contribution to quality of life and to peace in 
the Middle East. 
 
HALE