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| File - Farmer Gino Celli climbs out of a irrigation canal that is covered in dried salt on a field he farms near Stockton, Calif., May 2015. |
Barry Broad is head of the Sacramento Jewish Federation. He says the ideafor the meeting was a product of Sacramento’s Sister City relationship withthe Israeli city of Ashkelon.
“We thought given California’s water situation -- we’re in a very seriousdrought -- and Israel’s advanced technology in this area…this would be theperfect Sister City event to plan. Bringing experts from Israel to tell us whatare the things we can learn from Israel’s longer and more extensive historydealing with life in a permanently arid climate.”
In California, hundreds of thousands of people pay a flat rate for their water. Inother words, they pay the same amount, whether they use a lot of water orvery little.
Israeltreats water differently. Eilon Adar is director of the Zuckerberg Institutefor Water Research at Ben-Gurion University in the Negev desert. He sayswater is considered a national resource, like oil or natural gas. The IsraelWater Authority sets the price of water. Mr. Adar says that the more watersomeone uses, the more they must pay.
“In my country, when I buy a unit of water to my house, I pay for the water as a commodity; I pay for the transmission, and I pay for the treatment of thewater released later on from my house. And this, I think, is the key forsuccess.”
Israelhas five desalination plants in operation. They remove salt from seawater so it can be drunk and used to cook and clean clothes. More than half of the water for homes, farms and businesses comes from this desalinationprocess.
A desalination plant will soon begin operating near the city of San Diego,California. California Governor Jerry Brown has called for a 25 percentreduction in the use of water. And in November, voters approved a plan for thegovernment to raise money to help solve the state’s water problems.
Mr. Adar says the biggest barrier to solving California’s long-term waterproblem may have more to do with politics than technology. He says largecities in the southern part of the state demand fresh water from the northernpart.
Darryl Steinberg is the former president of the California Senate. He sayscities throughout the state have to stop fighting each other for water.
“Truth is, we don’t have room for division here. It’s one state. There’s lesswater. There’s more people, and we’re going to have to be much moreaggressive and come together in a much more effective way over time, ifwe’re going to deal with this. And I’m confident we can.”
Mr. Adar says farmers, property owners and water companies must worktogether to save water. He says Israel will use its advanced technology,information and experience to help any country that asks.
I'm Marsha James
Jan Sluizer reported on this story from Sacramento, California. ChristopherJones-Cruise adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
drought– n. a long period of time during which there is very little or no rain
resource– n. something that a country has and can use to increase itswealth
advanced – adj. having or using new and modern methods
extensive – adj. large in size or amount; very full or complete
arid– adj. very dry; having very little rain or water
unit– n. a single thing, person or group that is a part of something larger
transmission – n. movement
key– adj. important to
desalination– n. the process of removing salt from (something, such aswater)
