Mekorot

Mekorot integrates desalinated water, groundwater, surface runoff, brackish water, treated wastewater, and floodwater within a single supply system.[5] Its responsibilities encompass producing or receiving water, drilling, storage, treatment, conveyance, distribution, and the construction and maintenance of water facilities.[4] It also manages water-source security and wastewater reclamation, connecting sources with different characteristics to meet domestic, agricultural, and industrial needs.[4]

The company’s development has linked regional water engineering with the construction of a national network: early projects supplied northern communities, while later systems moved water toward the arid south and connected previously separate regional enterprises.[6] Desalination and wastewater reuse subsequently expanded the range of sources available to that network.[6] More recently, the system has also been adapted to convey desalinated Mediterranean water inland toward the Sea of Galilee, reversing the historical direction associated with the National Water Carrier.[7]

A 2026 operating profile reported supply of close to 1.8 billion cubic meters to approximately 13 million consumers, including homes, farms, industrial plants, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority.[3] Dated infrastructure snapshots describe thousands of production and supply facilities, around 1,000 wells, extensive pipeline networks, reservoirs, pumping stations, control infrastructure, and water-treatment facilities.[8][9]

Mekorot was established in 1937 as a joint undertaking of the Histadrut, Jewish Agency, and Jewish National Fund, initially to develop a water-supply project in the western Jezreel Valley.[10] Levi Eshkol was its first managing director.[10] The founding initiative also involved water engineer Simcha Blass and Pinchas Koslovsky, later known as Pinchas Sapir; Eshkol later became prime minister, while Sapir served as finance minister.[1]

The enterprise began with capital of 85,000 pounds and six employees.[3] Its founding memorandum defined a broad purpose encompassing the acquisition, storage, sale, delivery, distribution, and provision of water, and the company was registered under the name Mekorot approximately two weeks later.[3] Eshkol regarded a nationwide water system as an instrument for building the country, while the early organizational vision sought to consider the resources and needs of the country as a whole rather than isolated local projects.[3][11]

Its first large-scale project was designed and implemented between 1935 and 1938 under Eshkol and Blass.[12] Three wells on the western flanks of the Jezreel Valley provided water, conveyed through high-pressure metal pipes that enabled uninterrupted long-distance delivery and sprinkler irrigation.[12] Two concrete tanks and two open reservoirs helped maintain supply, and water was pumped into reservoirs at night to take advantage of relatively inexpensive electricity.[12] The northern regional system supplied both drinking water and agricultural water.[6]

After World War II, Mekorot expanded into a regional Negev project and a smaller project in central Israel.[10] The first Negev pipelines became operative in 1947 and supplied most settlements in the region, establishing the model of conveying water south from more reliable sources.[12] During the 1948 War of Independence, the company constructed an emergency water-supply system for Jerusalem; after the war, it began a nationwide development program.[10]

Projects in the early 1950s centered mainly on groundwater and springs, followed by larger regional projects in the middle of the decade.[10] Floodwater capture and storage provided additional supplies for farmers in northern and southern areas, while an interregional project conveyed water from natural springs in central Israel toward the south.[6] These undertakings preceded the connection of regional and interregional systems into the national network during the 1960s.[6]

Preliminary work on the National Water Carrier began in 1953, its design was approved in 1956, and Mekorot began construction in 1959.[2] Construction lasted five years, and the system began pumping water from the Kinneret, or Sea of Galilee, on June 10, 1964, for drinking and agriculture in central and southern Israel.[2] Approximately 4,000 workers participated in the multiyear undertaking.[11]

Mekorot built and managed the Carrier, which was designed by the Tahal engineering firm.[12] An original proposal to draw water from the Jordan River before it entered the Sea of Galilee was suspended and modified following strong Syrian opposition and a United Nations resolution.[12] The completed design instead pumped water from the lake, approximately 220 meters below sea level, to around 152 meters above sea level; water then flowed by gravity toward the coast before further pumping toward the Negev.[12]

The roughly 130-kilometer, or 81-mile, system combined large pipes, open canals, tunnels, reservoirs, and pumping stations, with a design capacity of up to 1.7 million cubic meters daily.[2][6] A historical account gives its annual transport volume as approximately 400 million cubic meters.[12] Initially, 80 percent of the Carrier’s water was designated for agriculture, although drinking water took an increasing share as the population grew.[2]

The Carrier connected the Mountain Aquifer, Coastal Aquifer, and Kinneret within a tri-basin system.[13] Beyond carrying northern water to consumers farther south, its interconnections provided flexibility during crises and helped manage the distances between sources and consumers, seasonal changes, and variations extending over several years.[13] The Yarkon-Negev plant also formed part of the unified national supply system.[1]

The changing balance between agricultural and other demand extended beyond the Carrier itself.[13] Agriculture accounted for approximately 53 percent of Israel’s overall water supply in 2003, whereas a figure for 1985 placed agriculture at 75.5 percent of freshwater supply specifically; the two percentages therefore describe different denominators.[13]

In 1965, Mekorot established Israel’s first seawater desalination facility in Eilat to address the city’s water shortage.[14] The facility used vaporization, an energy-intensive process that prompted the company to seek a less energy-demanding alternative.[14] Mekorot subsequently adopted reverse-osmosis technology developed in the United States.[14]

Following the energy crisis associated with the Yom Kippur War, the company began installing small reverse-osmosis plants for brackish water during the early 1970s.[14] Within that decade it had established 15 plants supplying Arava Valley residents.[14] Rising demand and declining freshwater availability later encouraged further seawater desalination, including an Eilat plant that began operating in 1997 using a mixture of seawater and reject brine from brackish-water desalination.[14]

Wastewater treatment developed alongside desalination.[6] During the 1970s, Mekorot began operating a large treatment facility serving central Israel’s metropolitan areas, followed during the 1980s by agricultural wastewater-reuse projects.[6] One project conveyed approximately 140 million cubic meters of treated wastewater annually from central Israel to farmers in the south.[6] Other systems developed by the company used flood runoff and reclaimed sewage to broaden available supplies.[10]

Major facilities include the Central Filtration Plant at Eshkol and the Dan Region Wastewater Treatment Plant, known as Shafdan.[15] Published operating profiles give annual capacity of approximately 500 million cubic meters for Eshkol and wastewater processing of approximately 130 million cubic meters for Shafdan, without specifying a measurement year.[15] Mekorot opened its central Kinneret-water filtering plant in 2008, improving quality control and reducing the chlorine added for disinfection.[1]

The company’s water-resources profile describes more than 20 seawater and groundwater desalination plants developed over more than 50 years of research and operations, producing approximately 50 million cubic meters annually through reverse osmosis.[16] Their treatment systems employ tens of thousands of membranes, while membrane treatment also supports agricultural reuse of treated wastewater.[16] Its broader operational work includes effluent treatment, recycling marginal water for agriculture, restoring water sources to suitable quality, and source protection.[8]

Mekorot received authorization under the Water Law in 1961 as the national water authority and, in that capacity, built, operated, and maintained the National Water Carrier.[17] The same State Comptroller account describes Mekorot as a government company under the Government Companies Law of 1975.[17]

Its shareholding structure in 1967 divided ownership into thirds held by the Israeli government and Histadrut, with the remaining third divided equally between the Jewish Agency and Jewish National Fund.[10] Its subsequent institutional status was that of a government firm operating as an independent business under government-company supervision.[10] It remains listed among companies overseen by Israel’s Government Companies Authority.[18]

Within the institutional division of Israel’s water sector outlined in 2005, Mekorot handled supply, TAHAL handled planning, and the Hydrological Service determined water availability.[13] Water-sector reform later brought a growing role for privately operated desalination facilities while water supply remained with Mekorot.[19] The company receives and distributes desalinated seawater purchased from private contractors, with its network enabling plants to continue operating as demand changes between winter and summer.[9]

Organizational changes during 2018–2019 accompanied an increase in annual development plans from approximately NIS 800 million to NIS 1.6 billion, bond issuance, transition to reporting-company status, expanded international activity, and an innovation unit investing in startups.[3] Its three-year development plan is approved in advance by regulators and government ministries.[3] A separate 2026 operating snapshot put annual infrastructure investment at approximately NIS 1.5 billion and employment at roughly 2,000 workers.[9]

A 2023 operating profile listed approximately 13,000 kilometers of pipelines, 3,000 production and supply facilities, 1,200 wells, 1,000 reservoirs and pools, and 25 desalination plants.[8] A separate 2023 account reported nearly 700 pumping stations, 2,500 pumps, 12,000 kilometers of large-diameter pipes, more than 700 concrete and steel pools and tanks, and more than 100 large earth reservoirs.[1] These dated snapshots use somewhat different categories but show the scale of the operating network.

Historical supply figures show the scale of the company’s network before the later expansion of desalination.[17] In 1997, Mekorot supplied approximately 1.38 billion cubic meters, including around 49 million cubic meters to Jordan and 35 million to the Palestinian Authority.[17] Supply rose to approximately 1.5 billion cubic meters in 1998, including 59 million to Jordan and 37 million to the Palestinian Authority.[17] At that time, approximately two-thirds of Israel’s consumption passed through Mekorot’s 40 water enterprises, with private water associations supplying the remainder.[17]

A separate 1997 breakdown listed deliveries of 745 million cubic meters for irrigation, 540 million for domestic use, 94 million for industry, and 27 million for replenishing over-pumped aquifers.[20] The company’s later operations continued to combine supply with groundwater recharge, including work intended to enrich the Coastal Aquifer.[17]

For 2018, total supply was 1,577 million cubic meters, down from 1,647 million in 2017.[4] Deliveries to Jordan and the Palestinian Authority together reached 132 million cubic meters in 2018, compared with 130 million the previous year.[4] The 2018 breakdown assigned 925 million cubic meters, or 59 percent, to household use and 652 million, or 41 percent, to agriculture.[4]

The company’s 2018 reporting placed its production share at approximately 42 percent of water produced, treated, and desalinated in Israel, distinct from its approximately 69 percent share of total conveyance and supply, including deliveries to Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.[4] Its approximately 82 percent household-consumption share used a 2017 general water-consumption survey.[4] A 2026 operating profile instead gave approximately 77 percent of drinking-water supply and 65 percent of total national supply.[9]

Dated operating snapshots provide additional measures of scale: a 2023 profile listed more than 1.7 billion cubic meters supplied to approximately 12 million consumers, while a 2026 profile listed close to 1.8 billion cubic meters and approximately 13 million consumers.[8][3] Another 2023 account distinguished approximately 4,800 direct customers—communities, factories, and water corporations—from approximately eight million end users.[11]

Mekorot and the Israel Water Authority launched the Reverse Water Carrier in December 2022 to convey desalinated Mediterranean water inland to the Sea of Galilee during dry or low-rainfall years.[7] Designed to return as much as 120 million cubic meters to the lake, the project supports its role as an emergency reserve and seeks to maintain its ecological condition.[7]

The project followed drought years between 2013 and 2018, when the lake fell to the “black line,” 213 meters below sea level, at which pumping for the water economy was halted.[7] The first stage included a 30-kilometer pipeline from the Eshkol pumping station near Nahal Zalmon.[7] A planned second stage included four pumping stations and ponds in the Rosh Ha’ayin area, enabling excess water from new desalination plants, boreholes, and other sources to travel north, partly through the existing National Water Carrier.[7]

A 13-kilometer underground connection linked the lake to infrastructure associated with five Mediterranean desalination plants, with water able to reach the lake through the Zalmon stream.[21] Construction costs were reported as NIS 900 million in one account and approximately NIS 1 billion in another.[21][7] At inauguration, the lake stood sufficiently above the black line that professional assessments identified no immediate need to pump water back into it.[7]

The project also supported a regional supply context: Israel continued providing Jordan with lake water during drought years under their peace agreement, and an agreement to double deliveries to approximately 100 million cubic meters annually increased the importance of maintaining the lake’s level.[7]

Jerusalem’s supply has likewise required major engineering works.[9] Mekorot describes its Fifth Water System to Jerusalem as intended to increase desalinated-water supply and meet demand over the following 50 years.[22] In its project description, the company states that the first section was completed in 2014 and the second in 2022, including a 13-kilometer tunnel with a four-meter-diameter pipeline and pumping stations at both ends.[22] The tunnel runs between Eshtaol Junction and Ein Kerem.[9]

Further planned or ongoing connections described in 2026 extended toward Katzrin, the Beit She’an Valley, Jordan Valley, Samaria, Gush Etzion, Hebron, and the central Arava.[9] Their stated purpose was to connect regions to the national system and provide alternative routes when pipelines fail.[9]

Mekorot began substantial investment in breakthrough technologies in March 2018 after a Knesset-approved initiative enabled government companies of its kind to make such investments.[23] Its innovation activities include startup investment, business collaboration, applied research, and internal development aimed at patentable products.[8] An earlier operating profile also recorded commercialization of company-developed water technologies and annual water-system exports of approximately $500 million, without giving a measurement year.[15]

A 2023 profile identified Mekorot as Israel’s largest civilian electricity consumer, using approximately 4–5 percent of annual electricity demand.[8] Measures intended to reduce energy costs and the company’s carbon footprint included covering reservoir sides with solar panels.[8] Fiber-optic cables installed along water lines supported detection of malfunctions and leaks, with potential additional use for communications services.[8]

By 2025, more than 3,000 facilities were collecting operational data, with artificial intelligence supporting decision-making.[24] Cloud and AI investment extended to customer management, safety, water security, real-time information for controllers, valve-operation decisions, and energy efficiency.[24]

Emergency operations rely on decentralized facilities, many unmanned sites, and the ability of individual units and end devices to operate autonomously.[25] A 2024 operational account described ten control rooms managing more than 3,000 facilities, alongside preparation for earthquake scenarios and strengthened cyber defenses, stocks, and technical teams.[25]

Mekorot began selling water to Gaza in 1980, although purchased water remained a small fraction of Gaza’s overall water use and needs.[26] A 2016 Palestinian Water Authority report cited in the publication put Gaza’s 2015 domestic supply at approximately 95.3 million cubic meters, with 7 percent attributed to Mekorot, 86 percent to municipal groundwater wells, 3 percent to UNRWA wells, and 4 percent to desalination.[26]

In March 2015, Israel committed to doubling annual sales to Gaza from five million to ten million cubic meters.[26] Limited storage capacity restricted deliveries to eight million cubic meters until refurbishment of Gaza City’s al-Muntar reservoir was completed by the German Development Bank in early 2017.[26] A July 2017 Israel–Palestinian Authority agreement covered 33 million cubic meters annually, including ten million intended for Gaza.[26] Existing pipelines could carry five million immediately, while the remainder required a new pipeline; full implementation would have allowed total purchases of 20 million cubic meters annually, still below Gaza’s demand.[26]

Mekorot also supplied Palestinian Authority areas in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — and Gaza through cross-border water arrangements.[20][26] Deliveries to Jordan developed under the countries’ peace agreement.[20]

International construction work began in the early 1960s, principally in developing countries.[10] By 2026, advisory work included Argentina, Peru, Chile, Uruguay, Morocco, Cyprus, India, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan, while contracts had also been signed in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.[9] Engineers assisted with water-system planning and control infrastructure.[9]

In Cyprus, Mekorot had operated for nearly 15 years by 2026 and, through Mekorot Development and Initiative, participated in desalination plants at Larnaca and Limassol supplying approximately 34 million cubic meters annually together.[3] A further memorandum of understanding concerned water-sector development in Nicosia district.[3]

The National Water Carrier gave Israel an interconnected system capable of moving water between major sources and distant agricultural and urban consumers, while providing flexibility across seasonal shortages, multiyear variation, and supply crises.[13] Mekorot’s subsequent integration of desalination, treated wastewater, groundwater, and surface sources broadened that system beyond its original dependence on natural-water conveyance.[3]

Its development also illustrates the application of water engineering to the country’s arid regions. Early southern pipelines supplied Negev communities, and brackish-water desalination later supplied the Arava.[12][14] Wastewater treatment and reuse transferred reclaimed water from central Israel toward southern agriculture.[6] The Reverse Water Carrier extended this approach to maintaining the Kinneret as a strategic reserve while supporting neighboring-country supply.[7]

A 2023 industry profile recorded Mekorot’s admission in May 2022 to a forum of six leading global water companies and cited a 4 percent water-loss rate, compared with a 15 percent OECD average.[8] Its international advisory work and desalination partnerships provide additional applications of the operational expertise developed through Israel’s national network.[3]

Disputes concerning Mekorot include Palestinian allegations that its operations draw on Palestinian resources and contribute to unequal allocation, alongside the counterargument that its activities operate within Israeli–Palestinian agreements, including the 1995 Oslo Accords.[27] Specific allegations about Tubas Governorate included the closure of five Palestinian wells while Mekorot drilled 17 wells, and a reduction of Bardala’s hourly ration from 315 to an average of 120 cubic yards; these figures were claims by Palestinian Authority officials rather than independently established findings in the cited account.[28]

In the Golan, Mekorot supplied Arab and Israeli settler customers alongside the privately owned Mey Golan, with Arab farming cooperatives near Majdal Shams generally bearing pumping-infrastructure, maintenance, and electricity costs.[29] Allegations of unequal access included a June–July 2009 comparison between a 180-dunam settlement farm using 77,920 cubic meters and the 1,500-dunam Birket Ram cooperative using 139,375 cubic meters—approximately 433 versus 93 cubic meters per dunam.[29] That comparison was presented as evidence of inequality, not as an independently verified finding establishing its causes.[29]

The Reverse Water Carrier initially faced objections concerning construction costs and effects on consumer prices.[21] Ecological assessments also differed: research supported replenishment at specified quantities without major negative effects, while a zoologist raised concerns about possible “dead zones” from mixing desalinated and saltier lake water, leaving continued monitoring important.[30]