Dispatch from Israel: Smart Nations Are Investing Heavily in Water-Saving Innovations

On Monday, California Governor Schwarzenegger signed an agreement with Israel's Trade Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer to develop renewable energy and water technologies together.

Ben-Eliezer said the agreement would foster better cooperation between scientists and manufacturers in what he called two "sun-drenched states" in need of a more stable water supply. Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, said it would unleash a flow of venture capital.

I met with Trade Minister Ben-Eliezer myself on Tuesday. I am here in Israel attending the International Water Technologies, Renewable Energy & Environmental Control Conference, and my delegation got the chance to talk with the minister.  

I was struck during our conversation--and during other meetings today--by how much money is being directed toward water issues.

The new trade agreement between California and Israel is just one example. Scores of Israeli companies and international firms from Tyco to GE are here exhibiting one new process, design, product after another. Some even seem in a race to simply produce a better valve than the competition. In the process of out-doing each other in efficient water management, these companies are attracting financing and generating green jobs.

I can see clearly why such major investments are being made in water technology. Last night our delegation met with delegations from Australia and India.  The Australians gave us a presentation on the effects of a nearly decade-long drought, and they are direct about the risks they see from climate change.  But I also see impressive efforts to confront the crisis with innovative technologies that use water more efficiently and acknowledge the connection between water savings and energy savings.

Here in Tel Aviv, you can see what in the U.S. would still be "cutting edge" efficiency measures, such as drip irrigation, just by walking down the streets. The most striking thing is the relative lack of sprinklers--that omnipresent device in America, even in the arid West. Here I see only drip irrigation, and its brown plastic lines are everywhere. 

Click here to see a brief video I took of one of these installations along the Mediterranean.  Today we are off to see perhaps one of the most controversial ways countries are augmenting water supply: desalination. More on that soon.