A little-known engineering project is the cornerstone upon which life in Israel exists.
In the years following independence, the newly installed Israeli government was besieged with problems as it tried to plot its route to prosperity in the middle east.
A global economy in ruins following World War two, hostile countries on all sides and the legacy of the holocaust were all pressing matters but one lesser known issue was at the forefront of the founding fathers.
As jews from across the world flocked to the first Jewish homeland, the issue of water scarcity became perhaps the most important consideration for sustaining life in a country consisting of vast swathes of desert and insufficient infrastructure to support the numbers it was expecting to.
The solution was one of the most ambitious engineering projects undertaken in the region up to that point that remains vital to Israeli life and prosperity in the modern day.
Completed in 1964, the Israeli water highway was an ambitious plan to take water from the sea of Galilee in the north, an area blessed with rain and move it to the south of the country which receives considerably less.
The project, whilst crucial, was astronomically expensive, leading the country to take on debts of up to £40 million debts to fund its construction, the equivalent to over a £380 million today.
But more than half a century later, that investment is paying dividends.
The National Water Carrier stands as a testament to Israel ingenuity that has enabled life to flourish across the country.
At 81 miles long, it includes a series of canals, tunnels, pipelines, reservoirs and pumping stations that stretch all the way down to the Negev desert in the south.
The powerful pumps are strong enough to drive the water up elevation as high as 200m, with offshoots sprouting off of the pipes as they make their south to divert water to major population centres.
Such has been the success of the project; Israel’s water highway now supplies surplus water to neighbouring countries including Jordan following a peace agreement signed between them in the US in 1994.
Following a drought in 2017 which saw water levels in the sea of Galilee drop to record lows, the Israeli government installed desalination plants all across its coast.
Desalination is the process by which salt is removed from seawater, converting it into water suitable for drinking, agriculture and industrial use.
Israel continues to improve and refine its techniques, and its success lays a blueprint for other nations affected by water scarcity.
