Representatives of countries that enjoy 1,000 mm of rain a year have come to Israel to figure out how to best use water • "Pay for water?"

• National carrier // Photo: Moshe Shay

Chicago Mayor Ram Emanuel opened the 2017 Watec Conference with an eyebrow question. He wondered why a rainy, Chicago-like city with an annual average of 918mm, which lies on the shores of a freshwater lake twice the size of Israel - is investing considerable resources in collaborating with a semi-desert country in the Middle East, around the issue of water.

This question was most evident in the agreements signed at the recently concluded Watec 2019 conference in Tel Aviv, where the state of Michigan has signed a series of agreements with the Startup Nation Administration on a variety of issues, including water.

Water has become one of the most important issues in the world over the past two decades, and Israel is recognized as an esteemed actor following a revolutionary water policy that began in 1948 and has continued more strongly in the last two decades.

It is difficult to find these flattering figures in the Israeli press, but it turns out that a lot of people know about the "miracle of water", as they say, that happened here.

The world is beginning to worry about water today because of many years of neglect and ongoing public interest. After all, water is free and plentiful in all western countries, and often you hear about Israelis savoring a shower at no expense in hotels in Europe or the US.

When representatives of an American company in the show were asked if there was any thought of charging for water in the US, they immediately replied: "Such a thing cannot happen today in the US. It is part of Israeli policy that has succeeded in instilling the importance of water into the national consciousness. More what we pay for, and realize that it has value. "

The US delegate's emphasis was on the beam today, because she understands that such a step could be necessary if there was no dramatic change in world policy.

The middle class burns water

Seth Siegel, in his book "The Fight for Every Drop" ("Let There Be Water") lists some global trends contributing to the water crisis: The world's population is growing at a dizzying pace. A billion people, compared to 7.5 billion today, food sources will be needed for another 2.5 billion people, but no less - water sources too.

The proportion of the middle class in the global population is also increasing, as is the consumption of water. If in 2000 the middle class numbered 1.4 billion people in the world, in 2009 there were 1.8 billion and by 2020 it is set to jump to 3.25 billion.

This figure is important because the middle class uses the lowest and poorest water. It needs more showers, more cars and computers, more air conditioners, and in general - more industrial products. The latter require water, and plenty, to produce them.

Another aspect is the higher climate and temperature changes, which cause increased evaporation and drying of the bark, which does not allow irrigation to penetrate crop fields effectively.

Water pollution also reduces the amount of good water available to the world. Larger amounts of pesticides reduce the amount of drinking water.

Another reason you wouldn't expect to hear is liquidity in urban water networks, where water losses reach monstrous data - for example, London, which loses about 30% of its water, or New York that loses "only" about 25%.

Less powerful cities in the Middle East and Asia can reach as much as 60% water loss in a less-maintained network. This loss is not visible, but it is very great.

All of these, and many other problems, are leading to a global water crisis, the consequences of which are difficult for us, the Israelis.

1,800 mm of rain - and restrictions

On September 19 of this year, for example, 87 provinces in France out of 95 received an order restricting water use. Each region and its restriction; Those in parks, those in ornamental pools, irrigation, and even sometimes in private homes.

After all, France is a country where the average perennial rainfall in rainy areas reaches 1,800 mm of rainfall, and the driest areas are about 500 mm per year on average. By comparison, Israel's average is only 500 mm of rain a year.

A study published in 2016 reported that two-thirds of the global population suffers from water outages during at least one month a year, and the list includes not only developing countries like China or India, but also states like California, Texas and Florida.

It is hard for us to understand this data, but not to the mayor of Chicago, mentioned at the beginning of the article. In Israel, a country that controls 60% of its territory, and with areas such as Eilat, where an average amount of rainfall of 22 mm per year falls, there are no water restrictions. Water has a price as a function of use, there are ads that do not pass the quota set by law - But there is no time in the year when the tap opens without generating the expected current.

Water breaks in the world mean one thing, and that there are times in the day when there is no water in the taps, and must be prepared accordingly. In other words, some cities in the Western world do not have tap water to brush their teeth at certain times.

Dozens of countries, 9 discussions

Israel even gives and sells its excess water to its neighbors. That's why Michigan states in the United States came to learn how Israel was able to bring about this revolution, and are even willing to pay to buy information and technology. And they're not alone.

Chicago Water Conference // Photo: Bruno Y. Malki

The conference in question reached an impressive number of visitors, including decision makers from all over the world. Also participating were delegations from the World Bank and the Latin American Development Bank, as well as from the Australian, US, Singapore, India, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and many others. Participants were Andrew Wheeler, Head of the US Agency Environmental protection; Prof. J. Familiat, hydrologist and director of the US Water Security Institute; Tracy Minamed, Los Angeles Water Corporation operations director; Richard Harsik, senior director of the Los Angeles Department of Water; Shri Gajendra Singh Shakavat, India’s Federal Water Minister, and other senior office bearers.

Change the format of the conference

The conference changed its format from years past, and for the first time since its inception exactly ten years ago, nine exhibition tables were held at the exhibition, which included about 50 participants in each of the discussions.

drinking water; Regulatory innovation; Recycling and desalinating water; Creating, storing, and using data to monitor, treat, and repair irrigation systems; security; Cyber; Politics and developing countries - were all the subjects of these discussions.

This format differs from previous ones, in which the presenting companies did not take part in the discussions, and these remained in the showroom.

The change in the structure of the conference itself also led to a reduction in the price demanded by the companies by the exhibition organizers. If a given company was required to pay up to NIS 120,000 two years ago to hold a pavilion for three days, without being a partner in the conference itself - this year the same company was required to pay NIS 38,000 to present and also attend the discussion tables.

'' The middle class uses the most of the lower class and the poor. He needed more showers, more cars and computers, more air conditioners and more industrial products '' On September 19, 87 districts in France received, out of, 95 water restriction orders; In France, the average annual rainfall is 1,800 mm.