VZCZCXRO0882
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHAM #8959/01 3521412
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181412Z DEC 06 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6205
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHDOI/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 008959 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ECON PREL XF JO
SUBJECT: Red-Dead Feasibility Study Launch - Hopeful Start 
 
 
AMMAN 00008959  001.4 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary: The World Bank and regional beneficiaries Jordan, 
Israel, and the Palestinian Authority launched the $15.5 million 
feasibility study and environmental and social assessment for the 
Red Sea to Dead Sea Water Conveyance project on December 10.  With 
only $8.8 million in contributions so far, the first order of 
business is to find another $6.7 million to fully fund the study. 
End summary. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Financing the Study Itself is a Challenge 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) BACKGROUND: The two-year World Bank-led feasibility study 
will examine the technical, economic, environmental, and financial 
feasibility of a multi-billion dollar project to pump 1,900 million 
cubic meters (MCM) a year of seawater from the Gulf of Aqaba through 
massive pipes to the Dead Sea to arrest declining water levels, and 
to return the Dead Sea's water level to the historical mean of 395 
meters below sea level.  In addition, the project aims to generate 
electricity, and desalinate 850 MCM of water per year for drinking. 
The residual brine from the desalination process would go into the 
Dead Sea. 
 
¶3.  (U) In April 2005, after protracted negotiations, the 
beneficiary parties -- Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians -- agreed 
on terms of reference for Red-Dead, and asked the World Bank to help 
raise the funds and manage the study.  Between April 2005 and 
December 2006, the World Bank managed to raise $8.8 million dollars, 
including support from the Netherlands, France, Japan, and a $1.5 
million contribution out of the budget of USAID/Jordan's water 
portfolio.  END BACKGROUND. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) World Bank Director of Water, Environment, Social and 
Rural Development for the Middle East and North Africa Inger 
Andersen told the meeting participants that there are two components 
of the overall study.  One component is an environmental and social 
assessment.  The other is a feasibility study of the technical and 
financial aspects.  Both the feasibility study and the environmental 
and social assessment will consist of four sub-studies examining: 1) 
the intake area in Aqaba, 2) the conveyance through Wadi Araba, 3) 
the Dead Sea area, and 4) around the hydropower and desalination 
facilities.  The procurement process 
(www.worldbank.org/rds-procurement) will move forward while the 
World Bank and the beneficiary parties try to find the remaining 
financing.  The contracts will not be let though, said Andersen, 
unless all of the money is in place.  With the procurement process 
expected to be completed by summer 2007, the race to find the 
remaining money is on. 
 
-------------------------- 
Same Bed, Different Dreams 
-------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) Ambassador, AID Mission Director and NEA Senior S&T Advisor 
Chuck Lawson attended the December 10 launch for the U.S.  Eleven 
other countries attended, including the UK, Italy, Spain, the 
Netherlands, the European Commission, Norway, Japan, China, Egypt, 
France and Germany.  The beneficiary parties were represented by 
Jordan's Minister of Water and Irrigation Zafer Alem, Israel's 
Minister of National Infrastructure Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, and 
Economic Advisor to the President of the Palestinian Authority 
Mohammed Mustafa. 
 
¶6.  (U) During their respective remarks, the representatives of the 
beneficiary parties all mentioned the importance of political 
cooperation and economic development among the parties; the 
cultural, environmental, and touristic importance of arresting the 
meter-per-year drop in the level of the Dead Sea; and the 850 
million cubic meters of desalinated water that would eventually come 
from Red-Dead.  Jordanian Minister of Planning and International 
Cooperation Suhair al-Ali, noting the value of tourism, called the 
Dead Sea the world's largest spa as well as a global cultural 
treasure. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
Donors Raise Public Participation, Water Conservation 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶7.  (U) Several issues were brought up by the U.S. and other 
delegations.  There was general appreciation expressed towards the 
beneficiary parties' cooperative efforts on Red-Dead.  Concerns were 
voiced, however, over ensuring adequate public participation in the 
study.  Donors also want to see that management of water resources 
is discussed as part of Red-Dead.  The mega-project, donors said, 
should explore conserving scarce water resources, not just look at 
new options for supply.  The World Bank assured donors that Red-Dead 
has opportunities throughout for public comment and interaction, and 
that the causal factors of water decline in the Dead Sea would also 
be examined.  Beneficiary parties will be required to submit a water 
 
AMMAN 00008959  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
management plan on water conservation and efficiency as part of the 
study. 
 
-------------------------- 
Outcome Not Pre-Determined 
-------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The outcome of the feasibility study is not pre-cooked. 
The World Bank and donors, including the USG, have emphasized the 
need for a thorough, credible, and professional study that will 
answer serious questions about the technical aspects, the financial 
ramifications and environmental impacts of Red-Dead.  The study, 
says the World Bank, will also compare Red-Dead with other options, 
including the status quo with no additional interventions, and will 
draw heavily on earlier and ongoing studies.  At this time, the USG 
has no financial commitments in place or currently contemplated 
beyond the one-time, $1.5 million contribution for the feasibility 
study. 
 
----------------------- 
Engineering Firms Eager 
----------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Consulting engineering firms from around the world are 
already eagerly expressing interest in the feasibility study.  The 
World Bank is adamant that the Red-Dead study be credible, and 
therefore, has separated the activity into two separate, but 
interrelated actions: the water conveyance feasibility study, and 
the environmental and social assessment.  The same firm will not be 
able to do both the feasibility study and the environmental and 
social assessment.  At this time, the Bank has not determined 
whether a firm that implements the study or assessment can also 
implement the project itself. 
 
------------------------------- 
Some Press Reports Are Off-Base 
------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) During her remarks, the World Bank's Inger Andersen 
stressed the importance of transparency, public participation, and 
getting information to the media and to the community.  This will be 
a significant challenge.  Some off-base media reports have already 
appeared in Egyptian and Jordanian newspapers expressing concerns 
over the use of Red-Dead as a stealth vehicle for Israeli 
construction in the Negev, and as a potential challenger to the Suez 
Canal.  The World Bank urged the use of the term "conveyance" rather 
than "canal" to debunk the latter concern. 
 
------------------------------- 
Layers of Management and Advice 
------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (U) The management of the project will be handled by a four-way 
(World Bank, Israel, Jordan, Palestinian) Technical Steering 
Committee and a working level Study Management Unit -- with the same 
four parties but different individuals -- to manage day-to-day 
decision-making.  The World Bank is also creating an independent 
advisory panel of experts.  The composition and selection procedures 
for the expert panel are not firm, but World Bank Water and 
Sanitation Specialist Alex McPhail, who will manage Red-Dead for the 
Bank, said that these would be individuals who have the judgment and 
experience to look at Red-Dead from both qualitative and 
quantitative aspects. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Comment: No one disputes that the Dead Sea is in trouble 
and needs help.  Its water level is falling, and its surface area is 
now half of what it was.  With fresh water inflows estimated at less 
than 10% of what they were forty years ago, it's no wonder.  Much of 
that water is taken off upstream in the Jordan and Yarmouk Rivers 
for agriculture and municipal use by Israel, Jordan and Syria.  The 
potash factories at the southern end of the Dead Sea are also 
significant users.  By the end of 2009, the study should inform us 
on whether the Red-Dead project is economically and environmentally 
feasible or not. 
 
RUBINSTEIN