141. Memorandum From the Acting Director of the Office of Near Eastern Affairs (Dorsey) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs (Allen)1
Washington,June 30,
1955.
SUBJECT
- Status of Jordan Valley Negotiations
After two months of discussion centered largely on the one issue of whether the proposed Engineering Board will have the unequivocal right to use 300mcm of storage capacity in Lake Tiberias, if necessary to irrigate the lower Jordan Valley, the Israelis have advised us that they concede the point. We have informed Ambassador Johnston, who is now in Los Angeles, by telegram.
We now hope to concentrate on the following points:
- (1)
- The right of the watermaster to unimpeded access to all points on the watercourse. We do not intend to insist that he have the right to issue directives, but we believe he must be able to move freely for the purposes of inspecting and maintaining records.
- (2)
- The right of the Arabs to withdraw the Yarmuk River water they store in Lake Tiberias, as and when they wish.
- (3)
- The construction of the outlet facilities from Lake Tiberias to Point JX (i.e., the point where the irrigation system begins in Jordan), immediately after an understanding is reached with both sides. We are inclined to believe that these facilities should be built all at one time, of a capacity adequate to serve the system when it [Page 269] conveys Yarmuk waters stored in Lake Tiberias as well as the agreed flow from the upper Jordan River.2
- Source: Department of State,NEA/IAI Files: Lot 70 D 254, Framework of the Fourth Mission—No. 19 (April 22– ). Confidential. Drafted by Troxel.↩
- The Department also provided the information contained in this memorandum to the Embassy in Tel Aviv. (Telegram 765 to Tel Aviv, June 30;Ibid., Central Files, 684A.85322/3–455)↩