Cablegate: Iraq Water Seminar Links Government, Academics

VZCZCXRO3317
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHAM #5123/01 1901252
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091252Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2127
INFO RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 005123

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

State for ISN/CTR - USCRDF
Energy Dept for Sandia Lab/Cooperative Monitoring Center

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV IZ JO
SUBJECT: Iraq Water Seminar Links Government, Academics

1. Summary: The seminar "Clean Water in Iraq - Water Purification
and Environmental Remediation," sponsored by State's ISN
(International Security and Nonproliferation) Bureau and held June
25-29 in Amman, made important contributions towards linking the
policy, technical, governmental and academic communities on water
issues. End summary.

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Seminar Series Seeks to Redirect WMD Scientists
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2. The five-day seminar was part of State/ISN's program to redirect
Iraqi scientists with WMD expertise into civilian employment in
support of Iraqi national reconstruction. This is done in part by
building intersectoral relationships and promoting information
exchange. The seminar was the second in a series of seminars
organized by the Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF)
and Embassy Baghdad's Iraqi Interim Center for Science and Industry
(IICSI), and was held at Jordan's Royal Scientific Society. There
were over twenty presentations and more than thirty poster
displays.

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Attendees Represent a Wide Range of Expertise
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3. Approximately 40 Iraqi water specialists and 15 international
consultants from the U.S., the U.K. and Jordan attended. Iraqi
attendees included academics, ministry officials and Directors
General of former Military Industrial Companies (MICs). Several of
them had participated in highly effective, rapid response
reconstruction following the first Gulf War in 1991. The Iraqi
Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Environment, the
Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works, the Ministry of Science
and Technology, the Ministry of Higher Education, and the Ministry
of Industry and Minerals were represented at the Deputy Director
General level or lower. They had expertise in water quality, water
treatment, public utility management and environmental assessments.
The international consultants had expertise in water quality
monitoring, low-maintenance wastewater treatment facilities,
microbiology, water resource planning and modeling, and Geographic
Information Systems.

4. The participation of government officials was due largely to the
efforts of Linda Allen, IRMO Senior Consultant. Other participants
were solicited via a "call for abstracts" distributed by IICSI and
the Arab Science and Technology Foundation's Baghdad Office.

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Networking: First Time For Many to Work Together
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5. The seminar was extraordinarily productive simply by getting
participants from different institutions to talk to each other and
to share information. Many of the Iraqi participants had never
worked together before. This was a critical early step in building
professional networks and working relationships between managers and
technicians, officials and academics, former WMD experts and their
civilian counterparts, and between Iraqi and foreign experts.

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Consensus Recommendations Paper Being Drafted
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6. The workshop also helped establish a consensus between these
groups on the current status of water issues and infrastructure in
Iraq, what resources are available, what is being planned, and what
solutions might be. The sessions and corridor conversations helped
to address the lack of coordination and information exchange in the
water sector. Participants agreed that a small group would draft a
formal recommendations paper following the meeting, with the intent
of presenting it to the Iraqi government.

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Shortcomings of Participants Evident
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7. Iraq's decades of isolation were apparent during the seminar.
Technical knowledge of Iraqi participants was often at a modest
level and based on data available from simpler, older equipment.
Presentations were sometimes basic and a few presenters were clearly
uncomfortable at the podium. In fast-moving fields such as
microbiology and modeling, skill sets were completely outdated.
Many water quality and quantity studies were presented but there
were no standardized or shared data, and measurements of the same
phenomena varied.

8. Some participants did not demonstrate fundamental scientific
skills on critical thinking, analysis and assumptions. Modern facts

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of life for academics about the need to seek out research funding
and creating public-private partnerships were new concepts for many.
Participation by the international consultants not only expanded
the technical knowledge of the Iraqis but also conveyed many of
these intangible soft skills that are essential to "doing business"
in the modern world. Addressing knowledge and skill gaps within the
scientific community will be crucial in rectifying problems in
Iraq's water sector.

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No Shortage of Problems
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9. Problems in Iraq's water sector were not difficult to identify.
Items mentioned in the seminar included high salinity in surface
waters, overloaded, outdated and non-functional infrastructure,
untreated sewage discharges into surface and ground waters, reduced
in-stream flows due to upstream diversions or impoundments,
ill-trained staff, a lack of data on existing infrastructure (e.g.
location and condition of water distribution lines), a lack of
equipment and supplies, garbage and chemicals dumped on riverbanks,
a lack of planning, and illegal water connections. Overarching
issues include the lack of security, poor management, little
coordination and a shortage of funds. In some cases, physical
resources exist but are not deployed because of concerns over
security or lack of appropriate staff.

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S&T Foundation Announces Program to Fund Research
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10. Funding of research was not a central theme of the workshop,
but the Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF) announced the
Iraqi Research and Development Initiative (IRDI), a new partnership
between State/ISN, the Department of Energy's National Nuclear
Security Administration and ASTF. This partnership will fund
research projects in a number of areas relevant to Iraqi
reconstruction, including water.

11. Comment: The workshop created a community where there was
nothing before. The soft skills and network developed during these
five days will move the Iraqi water sector towards integration with
itself and with its professional peers around the world.

HALE

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