Solving the Global Water Crisis

January 11, 2016

Experts, it seems, are unanimous that the world is facing one of its worst water crises in decades. With California, Brazil, North Korea, Puerto Rico, South Africa and India suffering in the grips of the most devastating drought in recent history, water shortages could soon result in teetering governmental systems, displaced populations and ultimately, political unrest and war.

 Yet in the midst of a wasteland of bad tidings, an oasis of hope remains: the astounding innovations in water technology that the tiny nation of Israel has developed to make the desert blossom. “Fully effective solutions to the water crisis have already been found,” David Hazony, editor of The Tower, writes. “Israel could not have made the desert bloom without its incredible innovations in water technology.”

Located on a largely arid strip of land roughly the size of a small American state, the modern Jewish state’s access to natural water resources has historically been far from abundant. According to Hazony, Israel is the country that has dedicated the most time, attention and other resources to solve water shortages.

“Today, it leads the way in solving problems of water supply, spearheading efforts to deal with water leakage, farming efficiency, recycling waste, desalination, pricing policy and education,” Hazony says. “This has resulted in a water revolution unlike anywhere else on earth; a revolution not just of technology, but of thought, policy and culture.”

One of the chief ways in which the Jewish state is “bringing about the water revolution” is drip irrigation. This groundbreaking innovation that transformed Israeli agriculture  operates on a simple principle: “a tiny amount of water in the right place could make a plant grow a lot bigger and faster than a large amount thrown at it by rain or floods or sprinklers.”

According to Hazony’s article, households and individuals account for one-fifth of water usage. A further 10% is used by industry. The remaining 68% of global water usage is ascribed to agriculture.

Revolutionizing the world’s water usage thus means revolutionizing the way in which agriculture employs water as a resource, says Hazony. Understanding and embracing this principle, Israel has managed to cut its agricultural water use tremendously—while continuing to yield an astounding crop output.

As the eyes of an increasingly thirsty world roam to and fro for solutions to its dwindling water resources, the tiny Jewish state holds many of the answers. “All these solutions have been in the works for more than half a century,” Hazony reassures. “They only need to be implemented.”

Source: By Ilse Posselt, Bridges for Peace