Find out about water policy reforms that took Israel from a water scarce to water abundant nation, presented by Ariel Dinar, Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy, UC Riverside.

California’s prolonged drought has impacts on the state’s economy and quality of life, which calls for serious water policy reform. But California’s problem is not unique and there are lessons to be learned from countries around the globe that have faced and successfully addressed similar circumstances.

This talk will provide background information on the water sector in Israel and how water reforms have changed the water balance in the state. Located in the middle-east’s most water scarce region, the State of Israel has been one of the most water-scarce countries in the world. Several recurring drought events in the past 20 years pushed the country’s water reserves to dangerously low levels. In 2000, after one of the worst drought periods in its history, the State of Israel undertook a multi-dimensional reform of its water sector. The reform included a public campaign, institutional reform of water supply and services, technological investments, seawater desalination, wastewater treatments and reuse, water pricing for conservation, and several additional reforms that helped the nation move past its water crisis.

There are still open issues and caveats facing Israel’s reform, and these will also be discussed.