WaterIsrael shares its approach, solutions to drought with California

Published 29 July 2015

Israel has developed expertise in coping with droughts, and a delegation from Israeli water companies recently visited California, meeting with state officials and corporations to propose solutions to the drought, now in its fourth year. It was the latest in a series of consultations and symposiums highlighting Israeli water expertise and its potential to help California.

Israel has developed expertise in coping with droughts, and a delegation from Israeli water companies recently visited California, meeting with state officials and corporations to propose solutions to the drought, now in its fourth year.

It was the latest in a series of consultations and symposiums highlighting Israeli water expertise and its potential to help California.

An American Associates Ben-Gurion University of the Negev release reports that in June, an Israel Water Technology: Opportunities for California symposium in Sacramento featured several Israeli water experts explaining Israel’s multi-pronged approach to water policy, including wastewater recycling, desalinization, and conservation.

One of the speakers was Prof. Eilon Adar, director of BGU’s Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research. His bottom line was that unlike California, Israel treats water as a national commodity, like oil or gas.

“In my country, when I buy a unit of water [for] my house, I pay for the water as a commodity,” says Adar.

“I pay for the transmission, and I pay for the treatment of the water released later on from my house. And this, I think, is the key to success.”

Adar will be coming back to California to speak at a 23 August symposium, California Water Crisis: Learn from Israel and Take Action, to be held at Peninsula Temple Sholom in Burlingame.