Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, The Near and Middle East, Volume IX, Part 1

611.80/5–953

No. 604
Department of State Position Paper¹

secret
STA D–1/6

[Washington, May 4, 1953.]

Jordan–Yarmuk River Projects

Background

Israel’s present boundaries give Israel physical control of the mainstream of the Jordan above Lake Tiberias, control of the Lake and its outlet, and control of the mouth of the Yarmuk River, the Jordan’s main tributary, which enters the Jordan 6 kilometers south of the outlet of Lake Tiberias.

Important streams at the sources of the Jordan River arise in and traverse Lebanon and Syria.

Sources of the Yarmuk River rise in Syria and Jordan, in whose valley lies the boundary between these countries until near its mouth it enters Israel territory.

Plans for Israel’s optimum agricultural development call for the diversion of a very substantial volume of the water now entering Tiberias, through gravity canals to the plains of Esdrallon and Israel, and to points farther south; such plans would require diversion of the Yarmuk into Lake Tiberias, to maintain adequate supplies of fresh water in the Lake itself and in that part of the Jordan River that flows past Israel’s Beisan plain on the northwest corner of the Jordan Valley, to enable the Beisan plain to be irrigated by water pumped from the channel of the River.

On the basis of present boundaries, Jordan’s optimum plan for the development of its territories in the Valley would require the use of all waters available from the Yarmuk River, and a substantial volume of additional fresh water from the Jordan itself which can only reach a Jordanian destination in the southern section of the valley if Israel curtails its plans to divert waters flowing into Tiberias from the North.

The prospects of development of the Jordan Valley hold out the most immediate hope for a partial solution of the Arab refugee problem. Maximum use of Jordan River waters for this purpose might result in a livelihood for as many as 200,000 persons, a majority of whom could be found in the ranks of the 460,000 refugees now on relief in Jordan. $40 million of UNRWA funds have been tentatively allotted for such development. Present thinking in Jordan looks to the construction of a high dam on the Yarmuk, providing a reservoir which would permit flood waters of the river to be released as required for irrigation and electric power. Jordan would receive the benefits of the irrigation, and would share the power with Syria. This proposal—”The Yarmuk Scheme”—has originated in the Point IV program in Jordan, and it is being made the subject of thorough engineering analysis through funds made available by Point IV, UNRWA, and the UK. This engineering analysis will also include thorough study of the water resources of the minor tributaries of the Jordan River wholly under Jordanian jurisdiction, and designs for canals to follow the course of the valley on its Eastern and Western sides, as well as the design of a diversion weir on the Yarmuk to serve the canal on the Eastern bank. We are committed to complete these surveys with despatch. We are not committed further, and later commitments, which presumably could be made with UNRWA and possibly other funds, must wait until we have tighter estimates of costs, time factors, and benefits—i.e. a reasonable estimate of refugee resettlement that will follow expenditures. Division of lands to be irrigated between refugees on the one hand, and indigenous citizens on the other, will raise serious domestic problems for the Jordanians, and the technical problems underlying the best use of the land remain to be solved.

It may well be that an alternative to the construction of a high dam on the Yarmuk should be considered. It would involve the use of Tiberias as a regulating reservoir for irrigation purposes, diversion of Yarmuk flood waters into Tiberias, and construction of gravity canals that would extend the length of the valley on both sides to the Dead Sea. No such proposal, however, can be considered in Jordan, nor discussed with the Jordanians, as long as Israel remains in control of the outlet of Lake Tiberias.

In order to obtain an authoritative and informed opinion on alternative methods to make use of the waters of the Jordan, an estimate of the probable costs, and an appraisal of the resultant benefits, UNRWA retained the services of the TVA as consultants. TVA is assembling, from data available, a report on the development of the valley, and the TVA findings should reach our hands during the summer of 1953.² The TVA report may enable the U.S. and the UNRWA to reach more precise determinations as the reasonable division of waters between Israel and the Arabs, and to appraise cost and time factors of alternative plans for development.

What seems clear today is that the United States cannot agree to finance conflicting and competing plans on different sides of a political boundary. It appears equally clear that along with other outstanding issues of the Palestine dispute—compensation, repatriation, Jerusalem, boundaries—there is a fifth element, water, which must be considered as we approach a final settlement.

In Israel, the government intends to raise the issue with the Secretary, and the Israelis will doubtless contend that Israel’s viability cannot be achieved unless Israel is free to follow her optimum plan for uses of the Jordan waters.

In Jordan, high hopes will be expressed as to the possibilities of the Yarmuk scheme, and disappointment that our surveys have not been carried out sooner.

U.S. Position

1. In discussions in Israel:

Inform the Israelis that while no commitment has been made beyond expenditures for surveys, the UNRWA, with U.S. backing, must look to the irrigation of the Jordan Valley as its major resettlement prospect. While all facts are not yet precisely determinable, suggest that it lies in Israel’s interest to insure the success of this opportunity by renouncing certain of her claims to waters of the Jordan and the Yarmuk, and that as soon as further facts are available, to make detailed discussion fruitful, the Israelis will be informed.

2. As to discussions in Jordan:

Advise the Jordanians of our interest in assisting the Government of Jordan to develop the resources of the valley and that we shall continue to support the UNRWA to the extent that costs determined by engineering findings, and agreement by the government to assure a reasonable measure of refugee benefits, permit. In this context, point out that it is our hope that Jordan will rapidly enact necessary legislation to assure that the benefits of irrigation accrue to its needy people, rather than to specially privileged groups.

1. According to a note on the cover sheet by Jeremy Blanchet of the Executive Secretariat, this paper was one of a series of position papers on regional problems in the Near East to be contained in the briefing book for the Secretary’s trip to the Middle East and South Asia.

   With respect to the visit of Secretary Dulles and Mutual Security Administrator Stassen to the Middle East and South Asia from May 9 to 29, 1953, and for the memoranda of their conversation with leaders of Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, see Documents 1 ff.

2. For the text of the report as published, see The Unified Development of the Water Resources of the Jordan Valley Region, prepared at the request of UNRWA, under the direction of the Tennessee Valley Authority, by Charles T. Main, Inc. (Boston, 1953).