In the north east were the writer of this blog lives, we do not think about water too much because there are numerous fresh water rivers and lakes. However, we do see droughts affecting Europe, the west and southwest and that leads to thinking about water. Without water there is no civilization, many communities in the past, ceased to exist because their source of water changed or dried up and without water humans do not exist. If you are surrounded by fresh water, you do not expect not to have water.

In Israel, the country was formed in a desert, realistically most of Israel is desert and one of the reasons why the country was formed the way it was because no one wanted the land but the founders of Israel did. For generations the government of Israel has been working on ensuring their citizens have water to live, to grow food and to be a vibrant society.

In a book titled Let There Be Water by Seth Siegel published by St. Martin’s Press, NY, 2015, solutions about living with a lack of seemingly fresh water is written about. The book offers hope for countries around the world to learn to do some of the things Israel does.

The tips include:

using drip irrigation for watering of crops (70% of the water usage is by agriculture, drip irrigation lowers the number by being more effective)

desalinate salt water to gain fresh water (Israel uses this water for their drinking purposes)

treat nearly all the sewage to a high level of purity and reuse it for agricultural purposes

demand all appliances be water efficient

replace infrastructure before leaks begin and fix them when they show up

give financial incentives for technologies that save water

There are more but those are the biggest ones which can both save water and use water more efficiently to allow the society to grow.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, all companies start with coming up a solution to a problem. Once the problem is solved the company has the choice to grow and see if others both inside the country and outside the country have the same problem. Israel and its water companies are becoming a trusted source for other countries to ask for and receive solutions to their problems. It is the reason why there are ETFs which track water companies. Water companies can help solve the lack of water by saving water and the companies are becoming billion-dollar companies.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.