Seeking to fight the surging water crisis, the Israeli government has approved the construction of another desalination plant, this time in the Western Galilee.
According to financial daily Globes, the National Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved the plan.
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The new facility will join an unrivaled array of five desalination plants that already dot the country's Mediterranean coastline. The Western Galilee was chosen to house the plant because the area has been plagued by a prolonged drought and its access to desalinated water from the other facilities is limited over topographical issues that restrict pumping water to it.
Construction plans for the new facility detail two stages, with 100 million cubic meters of water being produced in each stage. This would make the new facility the largest in Israel and one of the largest in the world to use reverse osmosis technology.
Israel's Water Authority said the new plant will help ensure Israel's "ability to supply water in light of climate changes that are impacting our region."
Committee Chairman Zeev Bielski said that the construction of the desalination plant "will facilitate the continued existence of agriculture, development of the region with its rapidly growing population, and the restoration of water to nature. The desalination plant is of national importance because of its ability to bolster Israel's cooperation and strategic relations with its neighbors."
Earlier this year, the Finance Ministry issued tenders for the plant's construction.
Bids were received from Israel's IDE Technology, Hutchison Water, whose main investor is Hong Kong's CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd., and a partnership of Afcon, Acciona, and Allied Investments.
The European Investment Bank has already said it would provide up to 150 million euros ($167 million) to help finance the project, the Finance Ministry said.
