PROBLEM: The 1,700-acre Be’er Sheva River Park is designed to be as popular and widely-used as New York’s Central Park. The plan will use water as an attraction in two ways: the first, a 23-acre lake; the second, a riverbed with water flowing year-round. But where will the lake get its water in a region that lacks water sources? SOLUTION: Research sponsored by the JNF Parsons Water Fund concluded that the solution lies in creating a synergy between three existing sites and upgrading the water and sewage systems for the Nevatim Air Force Base, the Bedouin village of Arara, and the village of Nevatim. The new independent water source created from that synergy will provide for present and future needs of the lake in the Be’er Sheva River Park. • The need for upgrading the entire water and sewage system at the Nevatim Air Force Base became apparent when thousands of soldiers were brought in under an IDF base relocation program in 2009, launched in collaboration with JNF’s Blue-
print Negev campaign. The base command applied to the JNF Parsons Water Fund for assistance in examining the possibility of establishing an independent wetland similar to the one at the Ramon Air Force Base.
In early 2009, the JNF Parsons Water Fund presented a comprehensive plan to Israel’s Water Authority that addressed the problems of these three communities, resulting in the Arara Project.
• The Bedouin village of Arara, situated in close proximity to Nevatim, is one of seven Bedouin communities established by the government of Israel and houses 15,000 residents, with an annual growth rate of more than 4%. The village has a small sewage treatment plant that does not even meet its current needs, let alone future requirements that will come with the growth rate. In addition, the quality of purified water is poor and cannot be recycled for any application, as it may lead to contamination of the area’s streams.
The Arara Project consists of four major components: 1. The Air Force will connect the Nevatim Air Force Base’s sewage system to the Arara water treatment facility. 2. The JNF Parsons Water Fund will upgrade the Arara facility to produce water at the tertiary level, including chlorination (this is the standard required for the Be’er Sheva Lake). 3. The Water Authority is responsible for laying a pipeline from the Arara facility to the Lake, and will connect it to a planned reservoir in Moshav Nevatim. 4. The Nevatim agricultural association will construct a reservoir that will store the surplus purified water.
• In the village of Nevatim, located south of Arara and the Nevatim Air Force Base, the community’s farmland is not wellutilized due to insufficient water allocations. The local water association is planning to build a water reservoir in the next two years that will increase the water quantities needed for agriculture.
The Arara Project will benefit Air Force personnel and their families, the Bedouin residents in the Negev, the farmers of Nevatim and the entire present and future population of the Negev.
ROUND AND ROUND THE WATER GOES By: Col. (Res.) Sharon Davidovich and Laureine Greenbaum, JNF Parsons Water Fund Board Members
ARARA WATER TREATMENT FACILITY NEVATIM AIR FORCE BASE
ARARA COMMUNITY 15,000 residents with a 4% yearly increase in population.
MOSHAV NEVATIM
BE’ER SHEVA RIVER PARK
MOSHAV NEVATIM RESERVOIR
Smaller circle represents the size of NYC’s Central Park in relation to Be’er Sheva River Park.