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Sept. 16, 2005
Dry lands will bloom
Alberta and Israel work together on irrigation treatments.
NEIL LOOMER
A seven-day Jewish National Fund/Alberta government research mission
to Israel wrapped up Sept. 8 with a commitment by Alberta's Transportation
and Infrastructure Minister Lyle Oberg to invest in projects that
will secure scarce water resources in both regions.
The Alberta delegation, which included Oberg, MLA Len Mitzell and
representatives from the University of Lethbridge, the Department
of Environment and the Alberta Irrigation Projects Association,
visited waste treatment centres, pumping stations, reservoirs and
desalinization plants in a comprehensive tour designed to show how
effectively Israel manages its water resources. Presentations also
took place at the Weizmann Institute, the Technion and Ben Gurion
University, where participants were shown the latest innovations
being developed to preserve water and develop new methods of agriculture.
While the northern part of Alberta is rich in water resources, the
southern part of the province has arid conditions that are similar
to Israel's. For the first time, the government is faced with restricting
water usage for farmers and ranchers and is looking to Israel to
see how limited resources can be better managed.
By investing up to one million dollars in Israel through the JNF,
Alberta hopes to gain expertise in the treatment and use of recycled
water, effective use of reservoirs and growing crops with less irrigated
water.
Alberta's experts were very impressed with Israeli technology that
allowed the country to recover water for reuse. Treated sewage is
not dumped into the Mediterranean Sea. Currently, 64 per cent is
recovered, treated and used for agricultural irrigation.
The main source of fresh water in Israel is from Lake Kinneret,
but this water must also be treated, due to the high salinity content.
It is then distributed throughout the country in a series of pipelines
operated by the national water carrier.
One of the highlights of the mission was a visit to the office of
Vice-Premier Shimon Peres, who reiterated the importance of water
conservation in Israel's future, saying that the lack of water is
potentially more dangerous than any disease. Peres also said that
water could be the key to peace in the Middle East. Oberg noted
that Alberta, which has more proven oil reserves than Saudi Arabia,
is fortunate to have the money to invest in research that will prevent
the province's water crisis from getting worse.
The two ministers also discussed the promise that new research in
nanotechnology holds for future innovations and agreed to look into
ways that Israel and Alberta, which is the home of the Canadian
Centre for Nanotechnology, could work together.
At the end of the mission, a document titled the Alberta-JNF Conservation
Research Project was signed by Oberg, executive vice-president of
JNF Canada Joe Rabinovitch and Yehiel Leket, JNF world chairman,
declaring that the two parties will mutually fund and explore research
relating to innovative design, construction and rehabilitation of
water conservation and irrigation facilities.
Neil Loomer is the editor of Edmonton Jewish Life.
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