Texas Experts Explore BGU’s Water Technologies
Texas Experts Explore BGU’s Water Technologies
November 15, 2013
Jewish Herald Voice — After chairing a delegation of American mayors to Israel in 2011 with AJC’s Project Interchange, Houston Mayor Annise Parker returned to Houston, convinced that Israel has technologies and solutions to assist Texas and other coastal cities with severe drought and water management needs.
At her impetus, AJC’s Project Interchange has organized a seminar in Israel for water management experts, with a particular focus on Israeli expertise and pioneering technologies in desalination and water resource technologies.
Water management officials from Houston and other coastal cities across Texas and the U.S. are participating in the weeklong Project Interchange educational seminar in Israel, and attending Israel’s Water Technology and environment Research Control Exhibition and Conference.
The weeklong Israel visit, paid for by donors, and not taxpayers, showcases Israeli advances and is intended to establish strategic partnerships, foster professional cooperation, and encourage information-sharing between U.S. water specialists and their Israeli counterparts.
The delegation features some of the U.S. water sector’s most prominent figures, with top water experts from government, academia and the business world.
Given the challenges of the explosive population growth in Texas and in other states, it is clear to U.S. water experts that neither hurricanes nor extended rains will resolve the problems of drought, scarcity or brackish water.
Israel is a country that has developed water management and technologies by necessity, and many of those lessons and technologies can be applied to the United States.
The delegation is also visiting sites showcasing ground-breaking Israeli technologies and companies, such as Kinrot; the Shafdan water purification plant and the Hadera desalination plants; the Lahat plant for brackish desalination; the Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research and the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; BrightSource Energy Inc.; and the Arava Power Company.
As with all Project Interchange programs, participants will benefit from expert briefings on a range of complex political, societal and strategic issues facing Israel, Israel’s global and regional relationships, and Israeli humanitarian efforts around the world.
Sam Witkin, Project Interchange executive director, noted, “Israel has historically had a dearth of natural resources, and therefore its efficient water technologies and management policies have been a priority.
“In creating this seminar, Project Interchange is showcasing leading aspects of Israeli water technologies to America’s chief water infrastructure and policy decision-makers, creating opportunities for them to engage with their Israeli peers and collaborate for the betterment of all.”
Reprinted from Houston’s Jewish Herald Voice.
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