The Jordan Valley Unified Water Plan, commonly known as the "Johnston Plan", was a plan for the unified water resource development of the Jordan Valley. It was negotiated and developed by US Ambassador Eric Johnston between 1953 and 1955, and based on an earlier plan commissioned by United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). It was approved by technical water committees of all the regional riparian countries -Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Israel. Though the plan was rejected by the Arab League, both Israel and Jordan undertook to abide by their allocations under the plan. The US provided funding for Israel's National Water Carrier after receiving assurances from Israel that it would continue to abide by the plan's allocations. Similar funding was provided for Jordan's East Ghor Main Canal project after similar assurances were obtained from Jordan. In the late 1930s and mid 1940s, Transjordan and the World Zionist Organisation commissioned mutually exclusive competing water resource studies. The Transjordanian study, performed by Michael G. Ionides, concluded that the available water resources are not sufficient to sustain a Jewish state which would be the destination for Jewish immigration. The Zionist study, by the American engineer Walter Clay Lowdermilk, concluded that by diverting water from the Jordan basin to support agriculture and residential development in the Negev, a Jewish state supporting 4 million new immigrants would be sustainable. In 1953, Israel began construction of a water carrier to take water from the Sea of Galilee to the populated centre and agricultural south of the country, while Jordan concluded an agreement with Syria, known as the Bunger Plan, to dam the Yarmouk river near Maqarin, and utilise its waters to irrigate Jordanian territory, before they could flow to the Sea of Galilee. Military clashes ensued, and US President Dwight Eisenhower appointed Eric Johnston as a special ambassador on October 16, 1953, and tasked him with mediating a comprehensive plan for the regional development of the Jordan River system. As a starting point, Johnston used a plan commissioned by UNRWA and performed by the American consulting firm Chas. T. Main, known as the "Main Plan". The Main Plan, published just days before Johnston's appointment, utilised the same principles employed by the Tennessee Valley Authority to optimise the usage of an entire river basin as a single unit. The plan was based on principles similar to those embodied in the Marshall Plan – reducing the potential for conflict by promoting co-operation and economic stability.] The main features of the plan were: a dam on the Hasbani River to provide power and irrigate the Galilee area dams on the Dan and Banias Rivers to irrigate Galilee drainage of the Huleh swamps a dam at Maqarin wifor water storage (capacity of 175 million m_) and power generation, a dam at Addassiyah to divert water to both the Sea of Galilee and the east Ghor area a small dam at the outlet of Sea of Galilee to increase the lake's storage capacity gravity-flow canals down the east and west sides of the Jordan valley to irrigate the area between the Yarmouk and the Dead Sea control works and canals to utilise perennial flows from the wadis. The initial plan gave preference to in-basin use of the Jordan waters, and ruled out integration of the Litani River. The proposed quotas were: Israel 394 million m_, Jordan 774 million m_, and Syria 45 million m_. Both sides countered with proposals of their own. Israel demanded the inclusion of the Litani River in the pool of available sources, the use of the Sea of Galilee as the main storage facility, out-of-basin use of the Jordan waters, and the Mediterranean-Dead Sea canal. As well, Israel demanded more than doubling of its allocation, from 394 million m_ annually to 810 million m_. The Arabs countered with a proposal based on the Ionides, MacDonald and Bunger plans, meaning exclusive in-basin use, and rejecting storage in the Sea of Galilee. As well, they demanded recognition of Lebanon as a riparian state, while excluding the Litani from the plan. Their proposed quota allocations were: Israel 200 million m_, Jordan 861 million m_, Syria 132 million m_ and Lebanon 35 million m_ per year. Negotiations ensued, and gradually the differences were eliminated. Israel dropped the request to integrate the Litani, and the Arabs dropped their objection to out-of-basin use of waters. The Plan was accepted by the technical committees from both Israel and the Arab League. A discussion in the Knesset in July 1955 ended without a vote. The Arab Experts Committee approved the plan in September 1955 and referred it for final approval to the Arab League Council. On October 11, 1955, the Council voted not to ratify the plan, due to the League's opposition to formal recognition of Israel. However, the Arab League committed itself to adhere to the technical details without providing official approval. [email protected]
