🗣️ "Water as a Source of Conflict or Peace?"

Host: Matthew Klein
Guest: Booky Oren | CEO | Booky Oren Global Water Technologies
Category: 🗣️ Opinion

Podcast’s Essential Bites:

[6:48] “Mekorot is the wholesale supply of the water in Israel. […] There are additional 55 or 57 municipal utilities in Israel that [are] serving the city of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, city of Haifa, […] etc. But Mekorot is the wholesaler that creates most of the water for the State of Israel and collects most of the water and treats it.”

[14:58] “[It was] assumed that [Israel] will have enough water for 2.5 million people. We now have water in the same geography [for] 12 million people. And […] we began to supply water to our neighbors.“

[16:28] “ In 1967, there was a war in Israel, that people call […] war on water, the Six Day War. […] The main reason for this war was that Syria blocked the water source for Israel, and […] there was a very violent conflict. […] So water was the reason for war in this region, less than 20 years later water tends to be one of the components of peace.”

[25:22] “We reuse more than 90% of our wastewater. And currently 50% of the water going to irrigation [is] coming [from] this water source. […] Irrigation and agriculture is the largest consumer of water, but we were […] irrigating in a very inefficient way. So then in Israel, […] drip irrigation [was invented] […] that saves more […] than 50% of the water irrigation and increase[s] the efficiency of the crops.”

[39:41] “I think that water when you stop to argue about rights, and move to discuss about how much it costs, it simplifies the world. […] Water can be a very good tool for economic growth. If you have water, you can create more agriculture, you can improve your standard of living. Without water we cannot live. And when you are arguing all the time on the water rights, […] that's a zero sum game. But when you increase the amount of water based on technology, and […] the usage of water […] there [is] more for everyone. […] Then [it’s] turned from a zero sum game to a win win situation.”

[53:33] “It's my idea that water is a tool for peace. […] In my office, when I was the executive chairman of Mekorot, there was […] [the sign], make peace on behalf of water and not war because of it.”

Rating: 💧💧💧

🎙️ Full Episode: Google | Spotify
🕰️ 1 hr | 🗓️ 03/09/2022
✅ Time saved: 59 min