PROBLEM: Only 700 families, many of them farmers, reside in the Central Arava and battle sharp climate changes and extreme topographical conditions. The Central Arava Regional Council hopes to double the area’s population by the year 2020, but there is not enough water to sustain that growth. SOLUTION: JNF Parsons Water Fund Board members Bob and Sheila Friedland, Geri Shatz, Bruce Cohen, and Sharon Davidovich recently participated in a unique seminar in the Central Arava that focused on the region, its challenges, and what is required for future development – namely water. They came away with a plan. The Arava, a region in southern Israel, is the most peripheral and remote area of the country. Located halfway between
Be’er Sheva and Eilat, the average distance to the closest urban centers is 80 miles. It is comprised of six moshavim, or agricultural communities: Idan, Hatzeva, Ein-Yahav, Ein Hatzeva, Tzofar, and Paran; Sapir, the regional center; and Zuqim, a new eco-tourism-based community established with the help of JNF’s Sapphire Society. Of the area’s roughly 3,000 residents, approximately 480 farming families produce nearly 60% of Israel’s fresh vegetable exports and 10% of the cut flower exports.
preventing this increase in population, including housing, education, and adequate medical services; but the most significant limitation is the water shortage. The water shortage prevents our expansion of the agricultural sector, our main source of income. Because of this, we can’t absorb new families.
“Our goal is to increase the number of residents in each of the six moshavim in the region and develop the urban area,” said Ezra Ravins, Mayor of the Regional Council. “In contrast to other moshavim and kibbutzim around the country, we are experiencing a unique phenomenon: the boys and girls who were raised here are eager to return to live in the Arava after they serve in the army and attend university. Several limitations are
The Central Arava’s water sources are limited and originate from local water drills that produce brackish water unfit for drinking. To provide residents with potable water, the brackish water undergoes various purification processes including desalination. The water, delivered to most of the communities from a central site, is then collected by the residents in tanks. Only two of the communities are equipped with local water systems that deliver drinking water to each household, usually to only one tap – typically, the kitchen. Other household uses of water, such as showering, are performed with saltwater.
WILL THE CENTRAL ARAVA HAVE ENOUGH WATER TO GROW?
Only Zuqim, which was established thanks to the support of JNF, has its own water system that supplies drinking water directly to every tap in each household.
By: Geri Shatz, Bob Friedland, and Beckie Fisher, JNF Parsons Water Fund Board Members
WATER IN CENTRAL ARAVA Water for the region is used by farmers to grow produce and flowers and for domestic usage.
480 FARMING FAMILIES Of those 3,000 families in the Arava, 480 are farming families.
“The Arava needs partners to promote the development of the area and lobby government officials to make the development of the region a priority,” he added.
Over the years the area’s farmers have developed various crops that are capable of absorbing water with a limited amount of salt. These farmers have become Israel’s largest exporters of fresh vegetables. Because they use salt water to grow the crops, salt is transferred back to the aquifer, raising its salt quotient. While several long-term solutions are being debated, the JNF Parsons Water Fund, working with the Water Authority and Mekorot, has developed some immediate answers.
3,000 RESIDENTS The water supplies 3,000 residents in the Arava.
60% 10% OF ISRAEL’S VEGETABLE EXPORTS
OF ISRAEL’S FLOWER EXPORTS
• A special budget has been allocated for Mekorot to construct a desalination plant for the Central Arava communities to be used exclusively for drinking water. Mekorot is committed to the immediate publication of a bid and estimates that within two years the communities will be connected to a new desalination plant. • The JNF Parsons Water Fund will consider building a desalination plant for Moshav Paran to improve the quality of water for agriculture. This plant will yield 792,000,000 gallons of water that will be diluted with brackish water sources, thus producing an additional 1.4 billion gallons of water at a standard required for agriculture. The development of the Central Arava is a vital part of JNF’s Blueprint Negev campaign. A special committee headed by Beckie Fischer of Hollywood, FL and Bob Friedland of Yonkers, NY will visit the Central Arava in February 2011 to further explore ways to double the population of the region by 2020. Participants will include urban planners, people with backgrounds in real estate, medicine and education, and those with a passion for being true pioneers in the last frontier in Israel!