On the Ground with First-Ever Water Mission in Israel By Laureine Greenbaum, Co-Chair, Women’s Campaign for Israel I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the JNF Water Mission in Israel. Led by Dr. Morton Mower, chair of the JNF Parsons Water Fund, and Colonel (Res.) Sharon Davidovich, the Fund’s national director, our goal was to see firsthand JNF’s many water reclamation projects that mitigate the severe water crisis in Israel and the Middle East and identify future initiatives. We started in the north at the Shamir Drill, the deepest drilling effort in Israel, which will produce billions of gallons of fresh, potable water from an aquifer one mile below the surface. This will add six to seven inches to the Kinneret— Israel’s largest fresh water lake that is now at a dangerously low level—as well as irrigate thousands of acres of northern Israel’s fruit basket. The project will make a huge difference for the hundreds of farming families whose livelihoods have been compromised by the drought. Drilling is about to begin and is projected to produce around 800 million gallons of water by mid-2010. Next, we visited an elementary school in Kfar Blum to learn about the Rainwater Harvesting Program, which utilizes a system invented by an Israeli schoolteacher to trap rainwater for reuse in school bathrooms, sparing the use of scarce and expensive drinking water. This program also includes a special curriculum to educate the school children about the In November,
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(L-R) Sharon Davidovich, Susan and Leonard Miller, Laureine Greenbaum, Toby and Mort Mower, Dan Hoffman, and Alan Levenson on JNF’s first-ever water mission.
www.jnf.org
need for water conservation. The goal is to expand it to schools throughout Israel, as well as the West Bank and even Jordan. In the south, we stopped at the construction site of the new Sderot Reservoir, which will provide recycled waste water to the farmers in the region for irrigation. We continued to the Be’er Sheva sewage treatment station, where we learned about the need to upgrade the facility to provide recycled water for the lake at the Be’er Sheva River Park, an integral feature of JNF’s Blueprint Negev initiative. Finally, we visited the Bedouin village of Arara to meet with its leaders about upgrading their sewage treatment system. One of the highlights of the trip was seeing the constructed wetlands being installed at the Ramon Air Force Base, a system that will treat the base’s waste water organically and irrigate the 7.5 acre park that JNF built for the enjoyment of the military personnel and their families who live on the base. The new technology duplicates the physical, chemical
and biological processes that occur in natural wetlands to remove contaminants from the water and is highly cost effective, requiring minimal energy and maintenance. An Israeli company is responsible for the design and installation of this project, which was adapted to suit Israel’s arid climate. The mission coincided with Israel’s hosting the second biannual WATEC Water Technologies International Conference and exhibition of companies at the cutting edge of water and environmental technologies, many of which are Israeli. We attended the plenary discussion on water efficiency solutions, desalination, irrigation and water purification, and a breakout session at which Dr. Mower was a panelist on how governments, businesses and NGO’s can work together toward a sustainable future. All of the water projects we visited are examples of how JNF is taking an unusually active role as an NGO in partnering with businesses and government agencies. It is interesting to note that JNF also hosted a delegation from Turkey at the conference to discuss the possibility of importing potable water from Turkey. I completed the mission with an incredibly proud feeling about how much Israel and JNF are doing in this small corner of the world. Israel is the world leader in water recycling, reusing about 75% of its waste water. Spain comes in second, reusing just 17%. Israel counsels many countries in Africa and Asia about waste water management, sending delegations to work at local government and community levels. I learned from this mission that water is too valuable and scarce a resource to be used only once. I believe that the investments JNF has made and continues to make in research, development and implementation of water reclamation benefit not only Israel, but also all of us throughout the world.
October 25–26 Philadelphia, pa
JNF: A Catalyst in the Creation of Additional Water Sources for Israel By Col. (Res.) Sharon Davidovich, National Director, JNF Parsons Water Fund When we consider the state of Israel’s
water economy during the last decade, the picture that unfolds is bleak: Israel is drying up, the Kinneret (its largest fresh water reserve) is shrinking, aquifers are emptying, and the Dead Sea is vanishing. At the close of Israel’s rainy season this past May, the Kinneret’s water level measured only 60 inches above its black line, the point at which continued pumping would cause irreversible salinity and the Kinneret would cease to be a viable source of drinking water. The last 10 years have seen a 6.5-foot decrease in the Kinneret’s water level and an astonishing 33-foot decrease in the level of the Dead Sea. Until about 25 years ago, more than 90 billion gallons of water flowed annually into the Dead Sea from the Kinneret. Today, that flow has nearly ceased. The level of the mountain aquifer, which supplies about one third of Israel’s drinking water, has reached the lowest point ever measured. The rapid depletion of Israel’s water supply—caused by years of drought and increased demand from a growing population—raises a frightening question: Where will Israel get
its water 10 years from now? The Israel Water Authority has focused on the construction of desalination plants along Israel’s shoreline, believing these facilities will soon be able to meet most of Israel’s household water needs. However, the growing deficit must be narrowed today. While the government implements the desalination program, the JNF Parsons Water Fund, a $100 million, 10-year initiative, is acting as a catalyst for the promotion of complementary projects to mitigate Israel’s water shortage and replenish natural reserves. As Dr. Mort Mower, the Fund’s chairman, said, “We don’t want to stand in front of our donors 10 years from now and still talk about the water crisis in Israel.” The JNF Parsons Water Fund will: • Create new water sources in Israel.
Without JNF’s involvement in Israel’s water economy over the last 10 years, the crisis could have reached catastrophic levels. JNF’s 204 reservoirs serve as the main water source for Israel’s agricultural industry, providing more than 66 billion gallons of recycled water annually. The JNF Parsons Water Fund will construct 40 new reservoirs with its part-
ner in Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, implement modern recycling technologies in remote communities, mainly in the Negev, and access untapped aquifers. • Increase awareness of the water crisis among the Israeli public and encourage conservation and efficient consumption of drinking water.
This includes establishing educational programs in schools and promoting recycling systems for gray water (water generated from domestic activities). • Import water to Israel.
Israel is considering importing water from Turkey, and the JNF Parsons Water Fund is spearheading the effort, which could begin as early as this year once an agreement has been obtained. These initiatives are projected to create nearly 60 billion gallons of water a year, equal to the production of the three largest desalination plants in Israel. This added supply will enable Israel to meet its growing demand for water, replenish water resources, and even renew the water flow to the Dead Sea. For more information, visit www.jnf.org/water.
With each passing year JNF’s National Conference continues to excel and our 2009 gathering in Philadelphia is testament to that—it was a huge success! Headlined by Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, Senator Arlen Specter, Israeli Vice President Silvan Shalom and others, it drew an attendance of over 500, including more than 50 JNFuture members. In addition, 40 teenagers participated in the conference’s first-ever Teen Leadership Seminar. Both groups received standing ovations at the opening plenary and signal an important sea change in this organization: we are cultivating the future leadership of the Jewish world.
Save the Date! 2010 jnf National Conference in atlanta October 10–11, 2010 Special event for major donors evening of October 9 Intercontinental Buckhead · Atlanta, GA For information, contact nc@jnf.org