Can the Desert Bloom? Lessons Learned from the Israeli Case

Abstract

Despite the central management of Israel's water resources and the highly planned strategy for a sustainable water supply, Israel has twice faced an acute water crisis during the past decade. Although the visible problem is related to a lack of additional quantities of water, the deterioration of water quality appears to be endangering the future use of available water quantities as well. A long-term policy of ground water mining (translated to salt water encroachments), and irrigation with relatively saline water and recycled waste water, among other damage, account for this deterioration. Enhanced flushing of the salt and contaminant load from the aquifers (using various techniques) is proposed as a solution to the problem.