http://www.boston.com/dailynews/115/world/With_water_crisis_worsening_Is:.shtml

With water crisis worsening, Israel hurries to build desalination plants

By Dina Kraft, Associated Press, 4/25/2001 03:41 LARNACA, Cyprus (AP) Israeli entrepreneurs have been building state-of-the-art desalination plants around the world the latest in Cyprus but say they have encountered resistance at home about applying the technology, despite a growing water shortage.

''This is simple technology, the prices are affordable so why do we (in Israel) have to suffer?'' said Israeli businessman David Waxman after unveiling the $45 million Larnaca plant that will make the Mediterranean sea water drinkable. His company, IDE Technologies, has been involved in 300 such projects worldwide.

This week, with Israel's two aquifers and its only freshwater lake, the Sea of Galilee, having dropped well below their ''red lines,'' there were first signs that the Israeli government's attitude is changing.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the immediate building of a desalination plant in the southern port city of Ashdod. Another facility is to be built simultaneously in nearby Ashkelon.

Now, Israel has one desalination plant, in Eilat, a resort town in the southern tip of Israel. However, it is a small project and serves the needs of just 20,000 people.

Water engineers say Israel would need as many as 30 plants like the one in Cyprus, which will supply 636 million cubic feet of water annually, to supply enough water for the Jewish state. The first plant won't be completed for two years.

The desalination process forces sea water at high pressure through a membrane to remove salts and other minerals. The process has become more economical in recent years.

Waxman and other Israeli businessmen have a strong financial incentive in seeing the plants built. However, there's a broad consensus that they are needed to meet rising demand for water.

A few water experts oppose desalination, saying Israel could instead reduce water allocations to farmers, who are large consumers. But there is little support for that option in a country founded on forging a strong connection to the land.

Water is scarce throughout the Mideast, and often a cause of tensions. Israel recently sent a sharp warning to Syria and Lebanon over the construction of a pumping station on the banks of the Hasbani River, near the border with Israel.

Water-strapped Israel must also provide Jordan with 1.9 billion cubic feet of water a year as part of the peace deal between the two countries. Israel allocates about 1.4 billion cubic feet a year to the Palestinians.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who attended Monday's ceremony in Cyprus, acknowledged that consecutive Israeli governments failed to tackle the water crisis.

''Now it's time to turn our sights to desalination,'' Peres said.

Amos Epstein, director of Mekorot, Israel's state-run water company, said that for now, the company would have to rely on over-pumping, which allows sea water to seep into the aquifers, making the water salty. ''There is a price to be paid for being late.''

Epstein blamed the government's shortsightedness in part on the attention the nation pays to its continuous conflict with the Palestinians.

''When buses are blowing up, what can you do?'' he said. ''At such times people don't want to hear about the importance of saving water.''

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001

Answers

******the company would have to rely on over-pumping, which allows sea water to seep into the aquifers, making the water salty***** This is exactly what is happening in Florida, especially south Florida, right now. People on low sodium diets are being advised not to drink the water.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001

Unfortunately, the Israelis will come to rely heavily on the desalination plants and they will make excellent sabotage targets. However, there is no choice--they must be built. And it sounds as if there ought to be plans for the same in Florida.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001

Git, I have wondered about the sabotage implications. However, it sounds as though there only a few sources of water as it was. That is also a very dangerous situation.

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2001