Negba & Masu’ot Yitshak Reservoirs

The future of Israel lies in the Negev. It has 60% of Israel's land area, but only 7% of its population. Successfully developing the Negev is vital if Israel is to reduce the over-crowding in the centre of the country.

In the north-west of the Negev there are two communities, Masu'ot Yitshak, a religious moshav, and Negba, a secular kibbutz. They have achieved miracles, growing fruit, vegetables and flowers for sale in Israel and abroad. But even miracles need help.

The two communities depend on water from their neighbouring reservoirs, both built 40 years ago. They are in poor condition, with the result that they lose more than half their stored water through leakage.

In a year such as this with a drought, crops have died and others have been unable to be planted. The JNF has therefore decided to begin the vital work to upgrade these reservoirs, at a cost of £1 million, so that they can produce four times as much water.

"Here every drop of water is precious, it's like gold" Yoni Somaniov left his native village in Ethiopia at the age of 16, sneaked across the border and hid in Sudan for more than a year before being spirited to Israel by the Mossad in 1990. As a child, he had helped his family raise goats and sheep and plough the fields of wheat and corn. But it wasn't until he came to work in the avocado orchards at Masu'ot Yitzhak that he learned to treasure every last drop of water. "My village in Ethiopia was in an area irrigated by a huge river. Water was never a problem. Here every drop of water is precious, it's like gold. We have to be so careful and there is just not enough. The new reservoir will make it much easier for us. It's very important."

"This has been a terrible year for rainfall, with only 70% of the yearly average" Yigal Raviv is the general manager of Dganim, the agricultural partnership established between his moshav and the neighbouring Kibbutz Negba. Yigal says that the upgrading of Negba and Masu'ot reservoirs is vital. "This has been a terrible year for rainfall, with only 70% of the yearly average. We were unable to irrigate half our fields, which severely limited our ability to use them for profitable crops and we fear that by next year those fields will have become so dry we will be unable to use them at all. "I want to introduce new crops - carrots, parsley, tomatoes, olives and more avocados, but to expand we need the reservoirs."

"Once the new reservoir is finished, I will be able to double the size of this orchard." Azriel Ben-Dov is 81 years old and was the man responsible for building the Masu'ot Yitzhak reservoir 40 years ago. Back then, it took him a decade to persuade community leaders that the winter flood waters of Nachal Lachish could be collected and used for farming. Today he rises at 4.15am each morning, walks, studies and prays before setting out for a full day's work at 8am on his beloved avocado trees. "I have 125 acres of avocados," says Azriel. "Before we built the reservoir, we had none. The flood water we collect there is the best for avocados, which are very sensitive to salinity and temperature. The reservoir is very old though and leaks badly. If it could be improved, I would be able to produce double the crop for new export markets like the former Soviet Union."

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