US embassy cable - 03AMMAN2954

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002954 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/RA LAWSON, OES/PCI PAYNE 
TEL AVIV FOR ECON/GUMBINER, USAID/NEWMAN, USGS/GOODE 
JERUSALEM FOR ECON/RANZ 
NICOSIA FOR ECON/RENZ 
AGRICULTURE FOR FAS/LI, FAS/AFFLECK 
INTERIOR FOR USGS/LENOX 
STATE PASS EPA FOR HOFFER 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, SENV, JO, MEPP 
SUBJECT:  NEW MIDDLE EAST REGIONAL WATER ACTIVITY FLUSH WITH 
POTENTIAL 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  A recent Middle East regional workshop on 
wastewater reuse in agriculture, jointly-organized by USDA, 
USEPA, and USGS, brought together about 25 Jordanians, 
Palestinians, and Israelis for several days of presentations 
and sharing of information and experiences.  Despite the 
current political climate in the region, all individuals 
participated fully, clearly taking advantage of each other's 
expertise to learn from one another and to develop personal 
relationships on the margins.  An unplanned "bonus" of the 
workshop was the ability of Turkish Cypriots, whose 
attendance was made possible by the relaxing of restrictions 
on checkpoint crossings several weeks ago, to interact with 
their Greek Cypriot counterparts who helped host the event 
in Nicosia.  Encouraging bi-communal cooperation on the 
Cypriot front with Middle East regional cooperation among 
the core peace process parties made for a winning 
combination and underscored the necessity for close 
coordination on scarce water resources.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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EXPANDING THE CIRCLE 
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2. (SBU) From May 6-10, USDA, USEPA, and USGS jointly 
convened an "International Workshop on Wastewater Reuse and 
Water-related Agricultural Practices" in Nicosia, Cyprus, 
for Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli technical experts. 
Also in attendance were representatives from the Greek and 
Turkish Cypriot communities who have been working together 
on similar issues of common concern through a bi-communal 
project sponsored by the U.S. government.  The workshop, the 
first such activity bringing together these regional experts 
from their respective ministries of water, agriculture, and 
environment, was an ambitious undertaking that has already 
paid dividends. 
 
3. (SBU) Covering topics from irrigation design, crop water 
requirements, water reuse guidelines and regulatory schemes, 
reuse practices, treatment technologies, chemical and 
microbial pathogens, real-time water quality monitoring, to 
artificial recharge, the workshop was a comprehensive 
overview of a subject increasingly being explored to stretch 
the Middle East's critical water resources.  Technical 
experts representing the USDA, USEPA, and USGS introduced 
the participants to U.S. approaches to wastewater reuse 
practices, providing the basis for discussion and some 
technology transfer.  Each of the core parties presented 
their experiences, fostering friendly and constructive 
debate on different approaches to the subject. 
 
4. (SBU) We were particularly excited and gratified to 
welcome so many new participants to the cooperative regional 
water process.  For many years, much of the work has 
remained within the confines of EXACT (the Executive Action 
Committee), an element of the Middle East Peace Process 
Multilateral Working Group on Water Resources, and reliant 
upon the excellent professional and personal relationships 
of the members developed over years of contact.  This new 
activity represents a new mechanism for increasing regional 
cooperation on water-related issues and introduces a new set 
of Palestinian, Jordanian, and Israeli actors eager to build 
the necessary bridges to peaceful co-existence. 
 
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ATTRACTING INTERNATIONAL DONORS 
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5. (SBU) Official representatives from the EU and France, as 
well as a Dutch water expert working in the Middle East, 
also attended the workshop and shared their experiences in 
wastewater reuse.  The idea behind including them was to 
encourage other international donors to consider 
participating in or funding future complementary activities 
in the wastewater reuse sphere.  This was not lost on the 
savvy Palestinians and Jordanians who sought to capitalize 
on their presence.  The EU, France, and the Netherlands are 
already active donors in Middle East regional water 
projects, as are the Canadians and Norwegians.  The EU 
representative indicated by the end of the session that he 
would be interested in assisting financially with future 
regional wastewater reuse projects involving the core 
parties. 
 
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FOLLOW-ON ACTIVITIES 
-------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) At the conclusion of the workshop, the core parties 
discussed possible next steps and are anxious to maintain 
the momentum by focusing on developing a small regional 
project on a topic related to wastewater reuse in 
agriculture.  With an eye toward penetrating the restrictive 
European produce market, there were ambitious discussions 
about harmonizing regional wastewater standards and 
guidelines but, while we welcomed this optimistic and 
forward-thinking approach, all agreed to focus initial 
efforts on more achievable short-term projects.  We are also 
exploring the possibility of a list server to encourage the 
continuation of discussion among participants (core parties 
and U.S. technical experts alike) as well as the development 
of a website highlighting this new cooperative effort on 
wastewater reuse. 
 
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COMMENT:  OUR FIRST SUCCESS STORY 
--------------------------------- 
 
7. (SBU) All in all, this was an excellently conceived and 
executed workshop, introducing a new topic for regional 
cooperation to a broad range and large group of Jordanian, 
Palestinian, and Israeli technical experts.  We are 
confident that the high level of interest and bonds formed 
at this inception meeting can be sustained and will produce 
further opportunities for collaboration. 
 
8. (SBU) One of the highlights of the workshop was when the 
Israeli delegation head, after talking to the Palestinian 
leader about problems the Palestinians were having in 
building a wastewater treatment plant in Tulkarem, picked up 
the phone and put in a call to the Israeli security chief 
and local Israeli mayor to get the issue resolved.  A 
conference call between our Palestinian and Israeli 
participants, Israeli Defense Forces, and municipal 
officials from both the Palestinian and Israeli towns seems 
to have built the necessary trust to put the project back on 
track. 
 
GNEHM