This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 006223 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/RA LAWSON, NEA/ARN SCHEDLBAUER, OES/PCI SHAW 
STATE PASS USEPA FOR EPA/OIA JOAN FIDLER AND EPA/DENVER 
BROBST 
STATE PASS USAID/EGAT DAVID OBRIEN 
USDA FOR FAS/ICD/RSED SYLVANA LI AND ARS/FRESNO JIM AYARS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL SENV EAID KWBG IS JO MEPN
SUBJECT:  MEPN:  ARABS, ISRAELIS WORK COOPERATIVELY TO SOLVE 
WATER ISSUES AT REGIONAL USG-SPONSORED WORKSHOP 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  On the heels of the International Court 
of Justice ruling on Israel's security barrier, and rising 
tension in the Occupied Territories, Israeli, Jordanian, and 
Palestinian technical experts participated for four days in 
Barcelona in a U.S.-sponsored workshop on wastewater reuse. 
Organized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and 
facilitated by USDA and Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) officials, the workshop brought together 18 water, 
agriculture, health, and environment experts from the three 
core parties to share experiences and expertise on 
wastewater reuse practices in their respective fields.  The 
professional and personal dynamic was excellent, with lively 
discussions and collaborative group efforts on a case study 
specifically designed to reflect conditions in the Middle 
East.  The participants vowed to remain in contact with one 
another to trade ideas and new scientific developments, the 
communication of which we anticipate will be facilitated by 
a website and listserve developed and hosted by EPA. 
Because of the effectiveness of these activities, USDA has 
received additional funding from the Department for more 
workshops and we hope to capitalize on the successes of the 
first series of four this past year.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Opening the workshop were Barcelona ConGen Alsace 
and the Catalan Conseller ("Minister") for the Environment, 
both of whom, in their remarks, recalled the Madrid 
Conference and the multilateral process that grew out of 
Oslo of which this workshop is a part.  Barcelona had been 
chosen as the site of this activity under the umbrella of 
the Multilateral Working Group on the Environment because of 
the area's innovative and advanced wastewater treatment 
technologies and reuse applications.  During a field trip, 
the participants visited two wastewater treatment plants and 
their associated reuse of the effluent in a 
constructed/restored wetlands and in unrestricted 
agriculture.  [COMMENT: It was also coincidental, but 
appropriate, that Barcelona this summer is hosting "Forum 
Barcelona," a global symposium on cultural diversity, 
sustainable development, and conditions for peace, 
reflecting the spirit of our workshop and the cooperative 
process we are keen to foster among the core parties. END 
COMMENT] 
 
¶3. (SBU) Six individuals from each core party, bringing 
together a wealth of expertise in various water-related 
fields, worked for four days in a highly-interactive 
workshop setting, in which the Israeli, Jordanian, and 
Palestinian officials presented the bulk of the technical 
material.  USDA and EPA officials also made presentations on 
the U.S. experience in wastewater technologies and reuse, 
facilitated discussions, responded to questions, and 
developed and led a comprehensive case-study exercise that 
approximated the water scarcity and agricultural constraints 
in the Middle East.  Unlike previous environment-related 
workshops our U.S. team conducted, at which U.S. officials 
did most of the lecturing, the agenda for this workshop, 
developed by the core parties themselves, placed greater 
emphasis on Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian experiences. 
This, it was felt, would generate more discussion and 
interaction among the participants-and it did. 
 
¶4. (SBU) By the end of the workshop, the participants were 
eager to develop a joint project and follow-on activities to 
maintain the momentum they had achieved in Barcelona.  One 
such idea is the joint development of a Middle East Regional 
Cooperation (MERC) project on a wastewater-related topic. 
One official from each of the Israeli, Jordanian, and 
Palestinian delegations have already held preliminary 
discussions about the MERC pre-proposal.  EPA, through its 
regional office in Denver, has offered to develop a website 
on wastewater reuse, which will include the presentations 
made by the core parties and U.S. officials in Barcelona and 
the first wastewater workshop proceedings in Cyprus last 
year.  The website is envisioned to be a resource and tool 
for the core parties to continue to share information. 
 
¶5. (SBU) We also successfully recruited a Tunisian official 
from the Ministry of Agriculture who is a leading 
international expert on wastewater reuse to participate in 
the workshop.  Dr. Akissa El-Bahri's active engagement in 
the proceedings was welcomed by all of the parties and added 
a new perspective to the topic.  In our efforts to expand 
the Arab representation in our multilateral water and 
environment activities, the presence of a Tunisian was a 
small coup and El-Bahri is an outstanding ambassador for her 
country.  Similarly, in our third workshop--on economic 
incentives for environmental decision makers, held in Greece 
last March--we included four Moroccan officials from the 
Ministries of Environment and Agriculture who are 
enthusiastic about other Moroccans joining these kinds of 
regional training opportunities on a regular basis. When 
queried by NEA Regional Environment Officer about the 
possibility of encouraging greater Tunisian participation in 
future multilateral activities, El-Bahri responded that she 
was confident she could help identify other individuals for 
follow-on regional workshops.  The USDA organizers plan to 
remain in contact with her through Embassy Tunis. 
 
¶6. (SBU) At the invitation of NEA Senior Science Advisor 
Lawson, the United Nations Environment Programme sent an 
official from its Geneva-based Post Conflict Assessment Unit 
to observe the workshop.  UNEP had produced a controversial 
desk study in 2003 on the "Environment in the Occupied 
Palestinian Territories" which prompted strong reactions 
from Israel and remains an ongoing irritant among Israel, 
the Palestinians, and UNEP.  In an effort to encourage UNEP 
to undertake more constructive approaches when addressing 
sensitive Palestinian/Israeli transboundary environment 
issues, we invited Aniket Ghai, the Project Coordinator for 
the desk study, to witness what we believe to be our 
effective non-threatening formula for increased regional 
cooperation on environmental topics.  Ghai was impressed 
with the content and format of the workshop and commented 
that he was pleased to see such excellent professional and 
personal interaction among the participants.  He told us he 
would be reporting his positive impressions back to Geneva 
and UNEP's headquarters in Nairobi.  Moreover, while at the 
workshop, Ghai held consultations on the margins with the 
Palestinian representatives of the Environmental Quality 
Authority, in order to begin to identify areas of bilateral 
technical assistance and training as follow-on to the desk 
study.  On a regional level, Ghai thought that, based on the 
success of the USDA activities, UNEP would consider offering 
a workshop on climate change and its associated 
environmental factors for Palestinians, Israelis, and 
possibly Jordanians. 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT:  Given the current obstacles--political 
and logistical--facing Israeli/Palestinian cooperation, the 
series of USDA-organized technical workshops on environment- 
related topics has been an unqualified success in bringing 
the parties together and keeping open the channels of 
communication.  These activities, along with the World Bank- 
managed Drylands Initiative, are the only remaining 
manifestations of the Multilateral Working Group on the 
Environment and should be thoroughly supported financially 
and politically.  In future iterations, we will strongly 
encourage other international donors to attend and develop 
similar complementary projects.  Our efforts over the past 
year to include Moroccans and Tunisians in the mix of 
regional participants bode well for future activities and 
should be exploited.  They seem eager to learn from their 
Arab and Israeli neighbors and their active engagement helps 
to support our broader policy goals in the region.  Such 
advances, at a time when the International Court of Justice 
and the UN General Assembly are ruling Israel's security 
barrier illegal, can only serve to build confidence and 
encourage dialogue among the parties. 
 
HALE