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

220646Z Dec 05

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 009826 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
State for NEA/RA, NEA/ELA, NEA/IPA 
State Pass USAID/ANE 
Interior for USGS and for BuRec/International 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAID KWBG IS JO
SUBJECT: Red-Dead Project Feasibility Study Slowly 
Attracting Funds 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary: Representatives from Jordan, Israel, the 
Palestinian Authority and the World Bank presented an 
overview and prospectus on the "Red-Dead" project to Amman- 
based ambassadors of key potential donor countries on 
December 15.  The World Bank said the Netherlands is now a 
confirmed donor to the $15.5 million feasibility study, 
joining the US and France, and that Japan, Spain and Finland 
are likely to sign on.  End summary. 
 
Parties Stress Water Shortage, Cultural Heritage, Politics 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Jordanian Minister of Water and Irrigation Zafer 
Alem hosted the meeting.  MFA Deputy Director General for 
Middle Eastern Affairs Jacob Keidar represented Israel, 
Deputy Minister for Energy and Natural Resources Omar 
Kitarneh represented the Palestinian Authority, and Lead 
Water Specialist Vahid Alavian represented the World Bank. 
 
¶3.  (U) Alem, new to the Minister's office but an old hand 
at regional water issues, led the briefing.  He described 
the plight of the fast-shrinking Dead Sea, its economic and 
cultural value, and gave a technical overview of the "Red- 
Dead" water conveyance project.  The project is intended to 
take seawater from the Red Sea at Aqaba to replenish the 
Dead Sea and provide desalinated water to Jordan.  Alem said 
that the project will cost billions of dollars but provided 
no specifics. 
 
¶4.  (U) Alem, Keidar and Kitarneh made similar points in 
their presentations, specifically that fresh water is 
critically scarce in the Middle East, that the Dead Sea has 
been dropping rapidly over the past forty years, that the 
Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley are unique cultural 
treasures, and that this project is an opportunity for close 
cooperation between Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian 
Authority.  Alem also highlighted the economic benefits of 
the Dead Sea as a locus for tourism, as the center of a 
beautiful natural landscape, and as a source for minerals 
and mineral-based beauty products.  Note: The Dead Sea-based 
minerals industry is a major cause of the dropping water 
level according to Alem, since they pump Dead Sea water into 
evaporation ponds to extract the minerals.  End note. 
 
Two-Year Negotiation Over Feasibility Study TOR 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶5.  (U) BACKGROUND: The concept of moving Red Sea water to 
the Dead Sea has been around for years.  The core parties 
negotiated for two years to establish terms of references 
for a feasibility study for Red-Dead.  They initialed an 
agreement on April 19 of this year, and submitted a letter 
signed by all three parties to the World Bank on May 5.  The 
letter noted their agreement on the terms of reference, and 
asked the World Bank to coordinate financing for the study. 
The core parties made a presentation about Red-Dead at the 
World Economic Forum/Dead Sea on May 22. 
 
¶6.  (U) There is a twelve-member (four per party) steering 
committee for the project, and the participants are working 
out terms of reference for a Study Management Unit to handle 
day-to-day issues in the feasibility study.  A panel of 4-5 
experts will provide guidance to the steering committee. 
 
World Bank Coordinating Donations 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The World Bank organized a donors meeting on July 
4-5 in Paris to solicit funds for the two-year, $15.5 
million feasibility study.  France announced at that meeting 
that it will contribute 3 million euros.  The USG announced 
shortly afterwards that it will contribute $1.5 million. 
Alavian said at the Amman meeting that the Netherlands will 
contribute to the feasibility study, that end-stage 
negotiations are underway with Japan, Spain and Finland, and 
that other donors are actively considering support for the 
project.  Note: A contact at the Netherlands Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs said later that, in fact, final approval of 
the Dutch contribution is imminent but still pending.  End 
note. 
 
Feasibility Study Promoted as Comprehensive, Independent 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶8.  (U) At the Amman meeting, Minister Alem and the World 
Bank's Vahid Alavian took pains to describe the feasibility 
study as comprehensive and participatory.  Alavian noted 
that the technical analysis and the environment analysis are 
done under separate consultancies to promote accurate, 
unbiased reporting. 
 
¶9.  (U) Alavian noted that the terms of reference (TOR) for 
the feasibility study have still not been made public in 
their entirety.  He said that the Bank released a summary 
version of the TOR at the Paris donors meeting.  He 
explained that the TOR are highly specific and represent a 
tender document.  Under World Bank rules, he said, a tender 
document cannot be made public until a short list of 
potential bidders is created.  He said that he expects this 
to be done in 2006. 
 
The Problem: Drinking Water, Irrigation Cut Inflow 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶10.  (U) Minister Alem said that the level of the Dead Sea 
is now 417 meters (1,370 feet) below sea level, and is 
dropping at about one meter (3 feet) per year.  It is 
reasonable to assume that the salinity level is rising as 
the Dead Sea shrinks.  Syria, Jordan and Israel all divert 
substantial amounts of water from the Jordan River and its 
tributaries, which feed the Dead Sea, for drinking water and 
irrigation. 
 
¶11.  (U) Minister Alem said the natural level of the Dead 
Sea is 395 meters below sea level, or about 1,300 feet. 
Alem showed satellite pictures from 1960 and 2005 that 
demonstrated the startling decrease in the surface area of 
the Dead Sea, which has dropped from about 950 square 
kilometers (366 square miles) to 630 square kilometers (243 
square miles).  He said that inflows to the Dead Sea prior 
to the 1960's were about 1,200 million cubic meters a year, 
but are less than 450 million cubic meters now.  Note: 
Regional NGO Friends of the Earth Middle East puts inflows 
at less than 100 million cubic meters per year.  End note. 
 
The Solution.  Or Is It Another Problem? 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Jordan advocates Red-Dead as the solution to the 
shrinking Dead Sea.  The project, according to Alem, would 
draw 1.9 billion cubic meters (about 340 billion gallons) of 
seawater a year at Aqaba, which sits next to Eilat in Israel 
at the top of the Gulf of Aqaba.  Aqaba is noted for its 
high quality coral reefs.  The seawater would first go 
through a 160 foot-wide canal for 7 miles.  It would then go 
into a pipeline and be pumped up to 400 feet above sea 
level, then flow downhill by gravity to the Dead Sea.  Near 
the Dead Sea, the water would flow through turbines to 
generate electricity and would then go through a reverse 
osmosis desalination plant to produce 850 million cubic 
meters per year of fresh water.  The briny waste product 
from the desalination plant would go into the Dead Sea. 
Some environmentalists in Jordan, Israel, the US and Europe 
have expressed reservations about the concept given what 
they consider to be unknown consequences of the massive 
seawater intake on the delicate coral reefs of Aqaba and the 
unnatural inflows into the Dead Sea. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Comment: Jordan is unquestionably anxious to move 
ahead with Red-Dead.  The multi-decade incubation period for 
the idea to get this far, the two-year negotiation over the 
terms of reference, and the slow assembly of donors are all 
signs that few other parties share Jordan's enthusiasm. 
Alavian stated "categorically" that no decision about the 
Red-Dead project itself will be made until the feasibility 
study is done. 
 
 HALE