Middle East Peace Process
Working Group on Water Resources – EXACT
Regional Water Data Banks Project -
"European Union Funded Projects — Phases 1, 2, & 3"

Multilateral working groups, to support the Middle East Peace Process, were formed in January 1992. One of these groups, the Working Group on Water Resources, endorsed the Regional Water Data Banks Project (RWDB) in November 1994. The project consisted of a series of specific actions to be taken by Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian water institutions that are designed to foster the adoption of common, standardised data collection and storage techniques among the parties, improve the quality of the water-resources data collected in the Region, improve communication and make possible the exchange of hydrologic information. The RWDB Project was based on 39 specific recommendations that touch on all phases of hydrology plus "Work Package A" designed to help establish a Palestinian Water Data Bank.

The EXACT (Executive Action Team) committee had been created to manage and supervise the implementation of the 40 recommendations through various specific projects.

Execute in whole or in part, fourteen out of the forty Recommendations (Rec.) in the Regional Water Data Banks Project.

• Middle East Peace Process;
• Three parties to the Peace Process (Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian);
• Existing conflicts with regard to water sharing over and above the political conflict; and
• High water stress, water scarcity, water quality deterioration, and three severe droughts in the years 1999-2000-2001, led to a higher competition between the riparians and the water sector users

• Water scarcity and the successive droughts in a semi-arid region;
• Cumulative fresh water deficit since the sixties and particularly after 1991;
• Population increase, especially since 1991; and
  
• Dramatic increase of streams and aquifer

• Communication and Interaction among the Core Parties

  Given the context of the Project (Middle East Peace Process) and especially the political situation, it is important to note that the Project served as a media for communication among professionals of the three Core Parties from the beginning of the project but more specifically since October 2000.

  The EU experts played the role of "messengers" for the technical activities that were undertaken in each Core Party, by communicating with the professionals of each Core Party, acting as a "Technical Communication Channel". Despite the critical political situation, the EU experts and all the local professionals demonstrated their willingness to cooperate and to keep the activities going on.

  In 1996 and 1997 the project organised six technical co-ordination meetings in Amman, Tel-Aviv, Ramallah, Neve Shalom/Wahat Al-Salam, Amman, and Ramallah, that were held in a positive atmosphere and were concluded successfully even in periods of political set backs when other communication channels in the Middle East Peace Process stopped functioning. In 2000 & 2001 only workshops & seminars were organised.

  In all there were 146 professionals from the three parties involved in the Project through the multi and/or bi-lateral meetings and workshop.

• Main Technical Findings

  The project has upgraded and reinforced the water data banks of the three Core Parties, has reviewed the surface and groundwater water monitoring networks of the Core Parties, has procured some equipment and software and has developed tools that enable the Core Parties to publish information more rapidly from their databases.

• Data Collection Networks (Physical infrastructures for the groundwater, surface water, and meteorological monitoring networks)

  The project has described and documented the existing monitoring networks of the three Core Parties including station locations, types of stations, equipment installed, types of data collected, length of data record and so forth.

  The project reviewed the status of the existing infrastructure for the Jordanian and Palestinian Core Parties who considered this a priority. The Jordanian surface water gauging and meteorological networks, and the Palestinian surface water gauging and piezometric networks, showed degradation. Rehabilitation is considered a high priority.

• Data Collection Standards and Procedures

  International standards, as defined by the WMO (for meteorology, groundwater level and abstraction, and surface water gauging), are the basis for each of the Core Parties. The Core Parties have adapted them when necessary in order to suit the local conditions.

  The general conclusion is that the data collected by the Core Parties are comparable.

  The Core Parties have reached agreements to improve practices where relevant.

  In the field of data storage and organisation, the project provided substantial technical assistance to the Palestinian and Jordanian Core Parties including sound on-the-job training in database development. This enabled the Palestinian Core Party to develop a functioning database from scratch. The Jordanian consultant developed specific database applications for the laboratories that the Jordanian Core Party uses now in their day-to-day work. The project also provided hardware and dedicated software.

  Follow-up is mainly required in developing database applications (e.g. for error detection in the database, for data analysis, and for linkage with GIS, see below).

• Wastewater Activities

  An inventory has resulted in overviews for each Core Party of wastewater monitoring activities of the Core Parties (wastewater produced, collected, treated and reused; existing major treatment plants; procedures and standards for data collection and analyses; and data interpretation).

  In addition, two Decision Support Systems (DSS) were developed on Excel worksheet. The DSSs focus on Water Authorities as Decision-Makers.

  • DSS on water reuse for agriculture. Based on the review of existing water reuse standards and practices in the Region as well as the review of International practices, 60 possible crops were selected for the Region. The system can select acceptable crops from many possible options, according to available water quality, standards / guidelines for reuse and soil characteristics. It also assesses the surface area that can be irrigated for a specific scenario.
  • DSS on wastewater treatment technologies for small communities (rural to semi-urban communities, with a population ranging between 1,000 and 20,000 inhabitants). 40 applicable technology options were selected for the Region. The system can select the acceptable options from many possible options and rank them according to pre-determined criteria, for a specific community characterised by its size (total population) and water supply, and for a specific treated wastewater desired acceptable quality.

• Data Analysis, Interpretation and Publication

  On-the-job training in the analysis of groundwater quality and surface water gauging data has provided the Core Parties with new insight in the water resources situation.

  The project supported the Jordanian and Palestinian Core Parties in preparing a national hydrological bulletin. Concerning the regional bulletin, it was concluded that one of the prerequisites for issuing a regional bulletin is the (political) willingness of the Parties to exchange information.

  Core Parties communicated that data exchange just for the sake of doing so does not make sense. It should be identified clearly why data should be exchanged in the first place and which specific data have a regional significance.

• Databases Development and Data Transfer.

  The project assisted the Palestinians to establish their own hydrometric database capability, and the other two parties in the enhancement of their existing hydrometric databases. It was concluded that there are few technical obstacles for data transfer between the databases of the Core Parties. The database management programmes used by the different Core Parties are compatible.

• Equipment procured for the Core Parties

  Computing equipment was delivered to each Core Party for the Recommendations 4, 12 & 15. The equipment includes several computers, laser and colour printers, scanner, digitising table and UPS units. Installation of LAN systems. Procurement as well of software on water chemistry and hydrology data analyses and interpretation, on database development, on statistical analyses, on GIS. Procurement of two GPS Magellan Trimble GeoExplorer units per core party, and of labs apparatus and chemicals for the Jordanians & Palestinians In addition, the Palestinian Core Party received in 1996 office furniture & equipment for its Water Resources Department Office.

• Reporting and Experts Team

  In all, 59 reports were issued by the 28 EU experts (90 man-months in the Region) who were involved in the Project with the help of 13 local experts.