VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAM #2108/01 0811358
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221358Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9090
INFO RUEHDOI/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHDC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 3246
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 1541
RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH 0690
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 4100
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 3801
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 2359
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2273

UNCLAS AMMAN 002108 
 
SIPDIS 
 
INTERIOR FOR INTERNATIONAL/SENHADJI 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAGR PREL PGOV SY IS JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN LOOKS TO NEIGHBORS FOR HELP WITH WATER 
SHORTAGE 
 
REF: 05 AMMAN 9826 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: With rainfall at 65% of the long-term 
average for this time of year, and reservoirs at 54% of 
capacity, Jordan is seeking help from Israel and Syria to 
cover an emerging water supply gap.  Israel has been 
helpful, Syria reluctant.  Reftel Red-Dead feasibility study 
should start within two months, and the Disi project - which 
may yield Jordan 100 million cubic meters of water per year 
- should start construction by the beginning of 2007, 
according to GOJ officials.  Desalination of brackish 
groundwater is unlikely to be a major new water source. 
(USAID Zara Main project is anticipated to provide something 
like 40 MCM/year.)  The GOJ also is trying to protect 
existing surface and groundwater resources.  The anticipated 
water shortage this year has already led to an announcement 
that Jordan Valley farmers will not receive a summer water 
supply.  The shortages - politically sensitive in this water 
deprived country - bring a further challenge to a year 
complicated by reduced foreign assistance, elimination of 
oil subsidies, planned advancement of political reforms, and 
a difficult regional environment.  End summary. 
 
----------- 
The Players 
----------- 
 
¶2.  (U) BACKGROUND NOTE: In Jordan's most recent cabinet 
change in November 2005, then-Jordan Valley Authority (JVA) 
Secretary General Zafer Alem was appointed Minister of Water 
 
SIPDIS 
and Irrigation.  Sa'ad Al-Bakri stayed on as the Secretary 
General in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI). 
Munther Khleifat remained as Secretary General of the Water 
Authority of Jordan (WAJ). JVA Deputy Secretary General Musa 
Jamani was appointed as the JVA's Acting Secretary General 
and confirmed on March 8 as Secretary General. 
 
¶3.  (U) Mohammed El-Momani has replaced Fayez Bataineh as 
MWI Assistant Secretary General for Technical Affairs, and 
will represent Jordan in regional fora such as the EXACT 
water resources working group.  Momani brings a strong 
technical background; previously he has worked as the Acting 
Assistant SecGen for Water Resources in the Water Authority 
of Jordan (WAJ), and as Director of Water Resource Studies. 
END BACKGROUND NOTE. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
The Problem - Low Rains, Low Reservoirs 
The Solution? Turn to Israel and Syria 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Minister of Water and Irrigation Zafer Alem told DCM 
on March 5 that with rainfall at 65% of normal and 
reservoirs at only 54% of capacity, he has discussed ways to 
relieve Jordan's water crunch with both Syria and Israel. 
MWI SecGen Sa'ad Al-Bakri and Jordan Valley Authority SecGen 
Musa Jamani confirmed these contacts to ESTH Officer and FSN 
on March 9.  Bakri said that Jordan's municipalities consume 
about 260 million cubic meters (MCM) of water per year 
(roughly 37 gallons per person per day for all uses), a 
figure that is limited by available supply.  (Meteorology 
Department reports rain since January 1 is 65% of the 
average annual level). 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Minister Alem said that he had seen Israeli Water 
Commissioner Shimon Tal recently, and had told Tal that 
Jordan could not "pay" the full 20 MCM that it "owes" Israel 
annually under Annex Two of the Israel Jordan-Peace treaty 
this year.  (Note: In the treaty, Jordan and Israel agreed 
to swap 20 MCM per year, with Israel providing this amount 
to Jordan in the summer and Jordan "repaying" it in the 
winter.  End note.)  According to Alem, Tal accepted the 
news with good grace, and implied that Jordan could make up 
the amount at some later point.  Alem, SecGen Bakri and JVA 
SecGen Jamani all noted the cordial and cooperative working 
relationship on water that Jordan has with Israel. 
 
------------------------------- 
Syria Not Sticking to Its Deals 
------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) GOJ water officials contrast their good 
relationship with Israel to the more troubled relationship 
with Syria on water issues.  In the GOJ's view, Jordan and 
Syria have agreed that the latter will be limited to 15 dams 
on the Yarmouk watershed.  Syria now has 27 dams, according 
to Minister Alem.  In addition to having "unapproved" dams, 
Syria is drawing water directly from the Yarmouk for 
irrigation, say Jordanian water officials.  ESTH Officer saw 
pumps and pipelines on the Syrian side of the Yarmouk during 
a June 2005 visit to the area with then-OES A/S Turner. 
According to the Jordanians, excess and unapproved offtake 
of Yarmouk water by the Syrians is resulting in less water 
coming into Jordan.  Jamani said that the Yarmouk's average 
summertime (dry season) flow was 6 cubic meters per second, 
but the Yarmouk's flow this winter in the wet season is less 
that 3 cubic meters per second. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Minister Alem told DCM that he has had several 
discussions with Syrian Irrigation Minister Nadir Al-Buni 
about reducing Syrian offtake from the Yarmouk, and had 
gotten some support but no solid commitments.  SecGen Bakri 
characterized the Yarmouk as a "disaster" (for Jordan), and 
told ESTH Officer that the Syrians had made a general 
commitment to letting more water stay in the Yarmouk but had 
not provided details on quantity.  Bakri added that Jordan's 
ambassador in Damascus had called that very morning (March 
9) to say that the Syrians had committed to increasing the 
flow of the Yarmouk, but still had not specified a quantity. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
Unity Dam on Yarmouk Late Because of Geological Faults 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶8.  (U) Jordan Valley Authority (JVA) SecGen Jamani told 
ESTHOff that the Wihdeh (Unity) Dam on the Yarmouk is behind 
schedule because of geological problems discovered on the 
right embankment.  The dam was supposed to start collecting 
water this winter, but the JVA found cracks in the rock that 
need to be excavated and grouted.  He expects the dam to be 
ready in September 2006 and to start collecting water by the 
end of 2006. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Red-Dead Study to Start in April or May 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Jamani emphasized to ESTH Officer the importance 
of the Red Sea-to-Dead Sea water conveyance in Jordan's long- 
term water planning.  He expects the feasibility study to 
start within one or two months.  The Ministry is looking for 
companies and consultants who can undertake the study, and 
is preparing a small office to supervise the work.  Jamani 
said the World Bank has $10 million in hand from donors out 
of the total expected cost for the feasibility study of $15 
million, and that the parties (Jordan, Israel, and the 
Palestinian Authority) and the World Bank have agreed that 
this is enough to start the feasibility study.  MWI SecGen 
Bakri commented that in his opinion, the World Bank was 
delaying the feasibility study because of uncertainties 
related to the emergence of Hamas in the Palestinian 
Authority. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Disi Project to Be Tendered Soon on BOT Basis 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Aside from the Red-Dead, Jordan's other big water 
infrastructure project is the Disi project to pump 
groundwater from the Disi aquifer near the Saudi border and 
pipe it up to Amman.  Bakri said that the "Expression of 
Commercial Interest" for the on-again/off-again project will 
be announced within a few days, and that the project will be 
done on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.  The Disi 
project was tendered previously, but bids were hundreds of 
millions of dollars higher than expected, and the tender was 
cancelled.  Bakri expects the tender process to be completed 
within 4-6 months, and for construction to begin by early 
¶2007.  The companies involved will put together the 
financing and technical expertise, and the Ministry will 
simply buy the water.  MWI expects the Disi project to 
provide 100 MCM per year, and MWI hopes to pay the winning 
company or consortium roughly 85 cents per cubic meter.  The 
previous tenders would have cost $1.23 per cubic meter. 
Another large-scale water project, USAID's Zara Ma'in 
project, will provide 40 MCM per year beginning in July 
¶2006. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Brackish Groundwater Desalination No Panacea to MWI 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶11.  (U) In addition to the Red-Dead and Disi projects, 
desalination of brackish groundwater is another possible 
water source.  The GOJ has built several brackish water 
desalination plants.  ECON and ESTH staff visited one such 
reverse osmosis plant in the Jordan Valley near Deir Allah 
and were escorted by the president of the firm that built 
the plant.  Aqua Treat President Tarek Abu Dehays said the 
plant produces about 20-40 thousand cubic meters a day, 
depending on the supply of brackish water, at a cost of 
about 17 cents per cubic meter.  At a separate MWI meeting 
that took place days after the site visit, MWI SecGen Bakri 
told ESTH staff that the plant's cost (about $5 million) was 
quite low given its capacity.  Despite this low cost, Bakri 
said he does not expect groundwater desalination plants to 
become widespread, although there may be saline groundwater 
near Zara Ma'in that could be desalinated and injected into 
the pipe.  The Zara Ma'in pipe was purposely designed with 
excess capacity to handle this type of additional flow with 
little additional capital cost.  Bakri believes there might 
be an additional 20 MCM of drinkable water from desalination 
in the Jordan Valley, but he noted the environmental impact 
and the problems of managing the brine. 
 
¶12.  (U) Bakri floated an idea of having Jordan pay 
operations and maintenance costs (he did not discuss capital 
costs - presumably those would be paid by a donor country) 
for an Israeli-owned desalination plant on the Mediterranean 
to produce 50 MCM per year for use in Israel.  In return, 
Jordan would receive 50 MCM of water per year from Lake 
Kinneret.  Bakri thinks this is a good deal for Israel 
because the desalinated water would be high quality and 
available on the coastal plain where it is needed.  COMMENT: 
Post defers to Embassy Tel Aviv on whether this would be 
politically, technically and financially feasible from the 
Israeli perspective.  At first blush, this idea seems 
unlikely to reach fruition. END COMMENT. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Technical Chief Emphasizes Coordination, Pollution 
Prevention 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶13.  (U) The GOJ is not completely focused on simply 
developing new water sources, however.  There have been and 
continue to be efforts within the GOJ to protect and manage 
existing resources.  During an introductory call on February 
13, Assistant SecGen for Technical Affairs Mohammed El- 
Momani emphasized multi-sectoral coordination on water 
between the government, business, NGOs and donors, and 
upgrading wastewater treatment and pollution prevention to 
protect Jordan's existing freshwater resources.  He said he 
would focus monitoring activities on wells near industrial 
and agricultural activity.  Agriculture is the logical place 
to seek reduction.  The Ministries of Water and Agriculture 
need to improve coordination on an integrated strategy to 
protect both soil and water resources.  Momani also cited 
the need to better control illegal well drilling and 
groundwater pumping.  Noting that Jordan enacted a 
groundwater law in 2002, he said the issue is now 
enforcement.  Jordan also needs a strategy to minimize 
"mining" (unsustainable pumping) of groundwater.  A recent 
law to require payment for irrigation water over 150,000 
cubic meters a year created "a huge conflict," he said. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Comment: Jordan is pinning its longer-term hopes 
on the two large-scale water projects, Red-Dead and Disi, to 
"fix" its water supply problems.  The capital costs for 
these projects are approximately US$5 billion and US$750 
million, respectively.  With agriculture consuming two 
thirds of Jordan's water and producing only 5-7% of GDP, 
reallocation and demand-side management are better 
solutions.  In the shorter term, with only a few weeks of 
potential rainy season left this year, Jordan is likely to 
face a very dry summer.  It's conceivable that surface-water 
supplies, which largely go to agriculture, will be most 
affected. 
 
HALE