LINK: THE MIDDLE EAST INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MAGAZINE
ON DESALINATION
- Averting the Middle East Water Crisis
- http://www.link.co.il/36/36water.htm
Israel's agriculture minister and one-time bible teacher, Yaakov Tzur, had a parable for
delegates at a recent regional water symposium arranged by the Center for Desert Research
at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev.
"In Old Testament times there were two ways of solving disputes over water, which has
always been scarce in our region. One was to fight over it. The other was to jointly place,
over the mouth of the well, a stone so large that five shepherds were needed to lift it, creating
the need for cooperation."
Jordan and Israel have a stone and together they are trying to move it. In the framework of
their bilateral peace agreement, both nations adopted a give-and-take approach to water
supply. Jordan will receive 50 million cubic meters of water a year from Israel. Part will
come from the desalination of brackish springs around Lake Kinneret, and part from the
Yarmuk River which adjoins the Israeli and Jordanian borders. Jordan has received
recognition of its sovereignty over parts of the Arava, a semi-arid territory along its southern
borders, which is now farmed by Israelis. In return it has recognized Israeli rights to make full
use of the water in the aquifer under the Arava.
Link Magazine May 1995 - Breaking the Barriers
- http://www.link.co.il/21/21energy.htm
* The price of money has gone down, cutting projected desalination costs to
50 cents per cubic meter of water. "This is still not profitable, but it' s the lowest
cost available for desalination," said Weizmann, telling the 600 delegates to the
conference that "a big project is needed to symbolize peace and show that
something is being done. Only people who think big can break the barriers of
the past."
Jordan and Israel currently consume 1.5 billion cubic meters of water annually,
and a canal with desalination would add 800 million cubic meters, solving the
water problem for 20 to 30 years, observed Shahal.
Link Magazine January 1994
By Jonathan Fedler - Eisenberg's Israeli Empire
- One of ICL's still undeveloped gems is water desalination subsidiary IDE Technologies.
Ben-Noon thinks its sales will reach $100 million by 2000, compared with $28 million last
year. Current projects include a desalination plant in one of the Gulf States, and the company
has plans to become involved in projects for fresh water supply and distribution.
Link Magazine September 1996 - Energy: Sun & Water
- http://www.link.co.il/52/52waves.htm
Three futuristic technologies for creating energy and desalinating water are
being developed by different firms in Israel. All promise amazing results and
are seeking that one spark of dedicated interest that will enable them to
build pilot plants.
Link Magazine Nov - Dec. 1996
By Jonathan Fedler - Hydro Twin (Mekorot and Tahal)
- Lately, Mekorot has come out with a rash of proposals for modernizing Israel's water
infrastructure and warding off a water crisis. One is a blueprint for brackish water
desalination. At its center is a $200 million hydroelectric power station and 30 million
cum./year desalination plant north of the Sea of Galilee, which it wants to construct with
Toman and the Israel Electric Corporation. Mekorot, which is Israel Electric Corporation's
largest customer, hopes to be able to reduce its pumping costs this way.
Recently Mekorot also published a tender for a turnkey, $10 million, 8,000 cum. a day sea
water desalination plant in Eilat.
Link Magazine October 1995
By Orli Kraus and Jonathan Fedler - Middle East Water
- This review of the Middle east water crisis was prepared by the LINK editorial staff and Boaz Wachtel,
who contributed to the chapter on regional water issues for the Israeli government's proposals to the
1995 Amman regional cooperation conference. He has been promoting the Peace Canal Plan since 1991.
Link Magazine October 1996
(series on articles on the Middle East Water Crisis) - Middle East Water Crisis: Agricultural Costs
- http://www.link.co.il/52/52facts.htm
The maximum water cost that can be borne by agriculture is about $0.25 per cubic
meter, which is the maximum product value for water for most irrigated crops grown under
normal modern agricultural techniques.
Link Magazine October 1996 - Middle East Water Crisis: Desalination
- http://www.link.co.il/52/52desal.htm
Sea water desalination costs $1.60 to $2.70 per cubic meter (per World Bank)
Link Magazine October 1996 - Middle East Water Crisis: First the facts
- http://www.link.co.il/52/52facts.htm
Israel, Jordan, the West Bank, and Gaza currently use all their renewable water resources of 2.7 billion cubic meters per year.
Link Magazine October 1996 - Middle East Water Crisis: Future Simulated reality
- http://www.link.co.il/52/52optimist.htm
The Optimistic Scenario
Link Magazine October 1996 - Middle East Water Crisis: Med-Dead-Red
- http://www.link.co.il/52/52facts.htm
A plan to pump 1,600 million cubic meters for 20 years to restore the Dead Sea's historic level ...
Link Magazine October 1996 - Middle East Water Crisis: Private or Public Solutions
- http://www.link.co.il/52/52facts.htm
Israel's national water company, Mekorot, has aligned itself with the French giant Lyonaise das Eaux, the world's second largest water distribution company.
Link Magazine October 1996 - Middle East Water Crisis: Simulated Future Reality
- http://www.link.co.il/52/52facts.htm
The Pessimistic Scenario.
Link Magazine October 1996 - Middle East Water Crisis: The Peace Canal Plan
- http://www.link.co.il/52/52canal.htm
A proposal which would divert 1,100 million cubic meters from the Ceyhan and Seyhan Rivers to the Euphrates (240 km).
Link Magazine October 1996
By Boaz Wachtel - Middle East Water Crisis: World Wide Web Links
- http://www.link.co.il/52/52facts.htm
Sixteen valuable links on the Internet to other Middle East Water sites.
Link Magazine October 1996 - The Cheapest Water is in the Clouds (HIGHLIGHTS -- full text)
- Peace might open up an opportunity to expand cloud seeding from Israel to neighboring countries. It won't solve all the
region's water problems, but it's much cheaper
than << desalination>> .
Link Magazine February 1995
By Nicky Blackburn - The Fruits of Casablanca
- Solar energy specialist Arel Energy, a subsidiary of major textiles company Lodzia Rottex, is
looking for Arab partners to join it in proposing construction of $50 million of solar ponds for
desalination of water for Jordan. The European Union has offered to provide soft loans that will
cover 50 percent of the estimated $150 million costs of the combined projects.
Link Magazine Dec. 1994 - Jan. 1995
By Dov Hoch - Water -- The Sad Facts and Dire Politics
- http://www.link.co.il/52/52water.htm
with close to $60 billion in Gross National Product, Israel could
desalinate, albeit at a very high price to its economy. A project to supply about
250 mcm/year of desalinated sea water would require a $1 billion investment. In
addition to the high price per cubic meter and the major cost of providing large
chunks of sea shore, desalination needs imported energy and clean sea water to
operate. A project like this would not cover all of the projected Israeli shortfall in
the next two decades.
Link Magazine November-December 1996
By Boaz Wachtel - Water -- The Sad Facts and Dire Politics -- HIGHLIGHT (full text)
- In this version of the article, every occurrence of the word desalination will appear in red. This is an extremely useful feature for the busy executive.
- Water -- The Sad Facts and Dire Politics--HIGHLIGHTS (condensed)
- Here is the condensed version in which every occurrence of the term desalination is shown in red.