VZCZCXRO7687
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHAM #3230/01 2130638
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 010638Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9701
INFO RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 0329
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 0056
RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 003230 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL SENV TPHY KPAL JO IS XF
SUBJECT: EXACT Continues to Play a Vital Role in Fostering 
Arab-Israeli Cooperation on Water 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Not for internet distribution. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: The USG organized a Steering Committee meeting of 
the Regional Water Data Banks project (EXACT) July 15 - 16 at the 
Dead Sea in Jordan.  EXACT is a project initiated under the 
Multilateral Peace Process Working Group on Water Resources.  The 
EXACT meeting brought Palestinian, Israeli and Jordanian water 
officials together for the 24th time since the project started in 
1995; officials and experts from the U.S., the UK, the EU, and the 
Netherlands, whose governments all contribute expertise and 
resources to project activities, also participated.  For the first 
time in more than one and one-half years, a Palestinian Water 
Authority official participated in the meeting.  In their executive 
session, the Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian teams agreed on the 
importance of continuing to work together on the project and 
pursuing additional possible donors to support their various project 
activities.  The three core parties also agreed to meet again in 
executive session in Jerusalem in a few weeks to follow up on 
several action items.  The U.S. continues to play a leading role in 
working with the three core parties to help them develop their 
Regional Water Training Initiative.  END SUMMARY. 
 
EXACT Activities Continue; PA Returns to the Table 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The Regional Water Data Banks Project (known by the 
acronym EXACT, representing the name of its steering committee, the 
EXecutive ACtion Team) consists of a portfolio of technical 
activities undertaken by the core parties:  experts from Israel, 
Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority (PA).  All the activities are 
designed to build capacity and improve the parties' technical 
capabilities to address a wide range of water issues.  At the July 
15-16 meeting, the donors, and the Israeli and Jordanian delegations 
all welcomed the Palestinian Water Authority back to the project. 
From the time that Hamas took control of the PA until the formation 
of the Fayad-led PA, Palestinian participation was limited to 
non-governmental Palestinian water experts and personnel from 
President Abbas' office. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Despite the difficult conditions under which all EXACT 
members had been working since March 2006, project activities have 
continued.  The EU reported that it continued to work with the core 
parties on developing a Decision Support System (a computer program 
designed to help better manage water resources), carried out 
training activities, and provided laboratory equipment to the core 
parties.  The EU delegation noted that its current activities will 
end in mid-2008 and that it looked forward to working with the core 
parties to develop a proposal for follow-on project activities.  The 
Dutch reported that they have continued to work with the core 
parties to develop the water treatment and artificial recharge sites 
in Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories.  The Dutch will 
host a regional workshop in Jerusalem in September to discuss 
results from the different sites.  The Dutch delegation also 
announced that it has extended its project activities through 2010. 
The UK reported that it has continued to work with the parties to 
define the pollution problems present at the project sites and 
design appropriate mitigation approaches.  The UK also noted that it 
had just finished a very successful regional experts workshop in 
Aqaba. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) U.S. Chair NEA Senior Advisor for S&T Charles Lawson 
reported that the U.S. has continued to work with the core parties 
on their Regional Water Training Initiative.  The U.S. sent a 
three-person expert team to the region in February 2007 to help 
assess the core parties' training needs and develop the outlines of 
a work plan for the initiative.  All the EXACT members welcomed the 
expert team's paper as a good first step upon which to build the 
initiative.  The U.S. announced that it would organize a regional 
workshop in the fall at which experts from the core parties and the 
donors would develop the detailed initiative work plan.  The U.S. 
also reiterated its commitment to help support implementation of the 
initiative by offering to support specific training courses once the 
core parties finalized the work plan. 
 
Reaching out to Potential Donors 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) As they have done in the past, the core parties expressed 
their great interest in bringing new donors into EXACT.  Lawson 
reported that, based on conversations he had had with Swedish 
officials, Sweden was very interested in becoming a member of EXACT. 
 He noted that in order for the core parties to secure Swedish funds 
that are available this year, they would have to submit a proposal 
to the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) as soon as 
possible.  The core parties agreed to do so.  Lawson also noted that 
he had been contacted by an Italian NGO that was interested in 
participating in EXACT activities.  EXACT members agreed that 
contact should be made through the Italian government, since EXACT 
is a governmental group. 
 
AMMAN 00003230  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The core parties also noted their continued interest in 
having Norway join EXACT.  NOTE: Norway led several multilateral 
water projects over the years.  However, due to internal problems, 
Norway stopped its participation several years ago.  END NOTE. 
Lawson noted that Norwegian officials continued to express interest 
in re-engaging on regional water projects but that it was not clear 
when Norway might make a final decision. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) COMMENT:  The warm and collegial atmosphere that has 
exemplified the working relationship among EXACT members over the 
years was in clear evidence at the mid-July meeting.  The Israeli, 
Jordanian, and Palestinian EXACT members, as they have done since 
the project started, demonstrated their continuing commitment to 
working together on EXACT.  The EXACT mechanism, and its focus on 
technical issues, has provided a forum over the past 12 years for 
continuous Arab-Israeli cooperation despite regional, political 
instability. 
 
¶8.  U.S. Chair Lawson has cleared this message. 
 
Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman 
 
HALE