VZCZCXRO1321
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #0933 1411224
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 211224Z MAY 07
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7613
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 000933 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR WILLIAMS/WATERS/BELGRADE; 
NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/LOGERFO; TREASURY FOR NUGENT/ADKINS; 
DEPT PASS USAID FOR EGAT/AG/IP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAID KWBG IS JO
SUBJECT: FOEME CALLS FOR WORLD BANK TO CONSIDER JORDAN 
RIVER MANAGEMENT TO SOLVE DEAD SEA'S DECLINE 
 
REF: 2006 AMMAN 8959 
 
¶1.  (SBU) On May 10, regional NGO Friends of the Earth Middle 
East (FoEME) held a conference in Jerusalem on the proposed 
Red Sea - Dead Sea Conduit (RDC) and the organization's 
recently-completed socioeconomic and environmental impact 
study, which was fully-funded by USAID's Middle East Regional 
Cooperation (MERC) program.  The Consul General made opening 
remarks at the conference, expressing USG support for 
collective efforts to find viable solutions to the region's 
water management issues.  The Consul General said that in 
order to restore the Dead Sea, the parties will need to 
consider various solutions, including new sources of water, 
conservation, and enhanced resource management. 
 
MERC-Funded Study Conveys Caution On RDC 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The RDC's stated purpose is to arrest the 
meter-per-year drop in the level of the Dead Sea caused by 
lowered inflows to the Dead Sea as surface and groundwater 
sources are diverted for agricultural, industrial, and 
domestic consumption.  The MERC program funded a three-year 
study through FoEME concerning the environmental and 
socioeconomic impact of a RDC.  In 2004, USAID provided 
funding for FoEME, the Palestinian Water and Environment 
Development Organization (WEDO), the Jordanian Royal 
Scientific Society, and the Geological Survey of Israel to 
research the environmental and socioeconomic impact of the 
RDC.  The project produced a public opinion survey and four 
scientific-research reports that raised concerns about the 
construction of the RDC, including (1) threats to the 
chemical and physical properties of the Dead Sea's water from 
the introduction of seawater; (2) possible stratification of 
the Dead Sea's water (thus changing its physical and chemical 
properties); (3) potential saltwater leakage from the RDC 
into the Arava Valley's freshwater alluvial aquifer system; 
and (4) probable damage to the marine habitat in the Gulf of 
Aqaba/Eilat from the construction of a RDC intake station and 
alteration of water circulation patters in the Gulf. 
 
FoEME Calls For Focus On Jordan River Water Mis-Management 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) FoEME's Israel Director Gidon Bromberg stated 
during the conference that FoEME supports the World Bank-led 
feasibility study of the RDC but stressed that alternative 
solutions should also be studied.  He said that the World 
Bank-led study seeks to address the declining levels of the 
Dead Sea without addressing the root cause of the decline, 
which Bromberg described as mis-management of water resources 
along the Jordan River.  He called for the Bank to add a side 
letter to the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the RDC 
feasibility study which would include analysis of the Jordan 
River alternative solution to the decline of the Dead Sea. 
The "Jordan River alternative" calls for an independent study 
of the Jordan River and regional water management policies 
and what could be done to restore the natural flow of the 
river.  (Note:  In May 2005, the PA, Israel, and Jordan 
agreed to a World Bank-led feasibility study of the proposed 
RDC.  The World Bank study is scheduled to begin in the fall. 
 The USG has pledged USD 1.5 million towards the total cost 
of the two-year, USD 15.5 million World Bank study.  End 
note.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) Faris Hadad-Zervos, Deputy Director of the West 
Bank/Gaza World Bank Mission, was in attendance and responded 
to Bromberg's request that the Bank amend the TOR. 
Hadad-Zervos stressed that the Bank was merely acting as a 
vehicle to conduct the feasibility study to which the three 
parties had agreed, and that it was the responsibility of the 
PA, Jordan, and Israel to agree on additional language for 
the TOR.  Bromberg voiced his displeasure with Hadad-Zervos' 
response, describing it as "falsely innocent," noting that 
the Bank had previously used its influence to successfully 
convince Jordan and Israel to include the PA in RDC 
feasibility study discussions and the signing of the TOR in 
¶2005. 
WALLES