Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies
Milken Innovation Center
California-Israel Global Innovation Partnership
FINANCIAL INNOVATIONS LAB®
New Models for Financing Water Sustainability
Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies
Milken Innovation Center
Teddy Kollek Conference Hall
20 Radak St., Jerusalem
July 13, 2015
8:30– 9:00 am: Registration and Breakfast
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9:00– 9:15 am: Welcome and Introductions
Prof. Glenn Yago, Milken Innovation Center, Jerusalem Institute
Prof. Yoram Cohen, Water Center, UCLA
Prof. David Sunding, Water Center, UC Berkeley
Key questions to be addressed:
1. How to leverage opportunities in the regulatory, ownership, management, technology
and financial systems in the water economy in Israel and California?
2. How to build a system for technology development, transfer, and deployment of
sustainable water systems in California and Israel?
3. How to involve translational research, business, finance, and policy leaders in Israel and
California in organizing program, project, and policy initiatives that will accelerate
relevant sustainable water solutions?
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9:15– 10:15 am: Framing the Question: Comparing the California and Israel Water Context
Moderated Discussion
Speakers:
Prof. Yoram Cohen, UCLA Water Center
Prof. Avner Adin, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Adin Holdings
Prof. Uri Shani, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Former Israel Water and Sewage
Commissioner
Kathleen Brown – Manatt Phelps and Phillips; Former Head of Goldman Sachs Public Sector
and Infrastructure Group; Former California State Treasurer
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Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies
Milken Innovation Center
Respondents:
Zohar Yinon, Gihon-Jerusalem Water and Sewage Company
Booky Oren – Global Water Partnership Hub; Former Chair, Mekorot
Scott Houston, West Basin Municipal Water District
David Alvarez, Councilmember, City of San Diego
Robert Feyer, Orrick
1. What are the main problems/opportunities? What are the key barriers?
2. How do we diagnose the problem?
3. What are the components of possible solutions (e.g. finance, organization,
governance, disruptive technologies, etc.)?
4. Who needs to be involved? (research, government, industry, finance, tech assistance,
etc.)
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10:15 – 10:30 am: Break
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10:30 -11:00 am: Monitoring and Water Efficiency
1. How do we build a cost avoidance model to finance recycling and recovery of nonrevenue water?
2. How do we implement new management and command/control systems using stateof-the-art technologies in legacy system?
3. How to ensure the highest and best uses of water?
Speakers:
David Arison, Miya
Amir Cahn, SWAN (Smart Water Networks Forum)
Ariel Stern, Ayyeka
Respondents:
Kristen Victor, Sustainability Matters, San Diego Water Task Force
Ofir Max, Bermad Water Controls
Yosi Twina, Arad Technologies
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Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies
Milken Innovation Center
11:00-11:30 am: Water Recycling and Quality
1. How will California achieve Israeli levels of water recycling?
2. How do we insure water quality with intensified and distributed sources?
3. How to optimize mix of sources, including aquifer, desalinated, waste water, rainfall,
stone, and brackish water sources.
Speakers:
Phyllis Posy, Strategic and Regulatory Affairs, Atlantium
Eytan Levy, Emefcy
Respondents
Hezi Bilik, Chief Engineer and Technology, Israel Water Authority
Prof. Brian Berkowitz, Scholl Center for Water Research and Climate Change, Weizman
Institute
Diego Berger, Mekorot
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11:30-12:00 pm: Desalination
1. How do we expand desalination and water mixing?
2. How to mitigate the energy costs?
3. How to mitigate environmental impacts?
Speakers:
Udi Tirosh, IDE Technologies
Avram Tenne and Hila Gil, Israel Water Authority
Respondents:
Rafi Semiat, Rabin Desal Lab, Technion
Tamar Zohari, National Association of Oceanography
Yosef Dreizin, Israel Water Authority
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Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies
Milken Innovation Center
12:00-12:30 pm: Aquifer Management
1. How can we manage water storage and aquifer remediation?
2. How to finance the implementation of Groundwater Management Act? (e.g. artificial
recharging, etc.)
Speaker:
Prof. James Famiglietti, UC-Irvine, Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA
Respondents:
Scott Houston, West Basin Municipal Water District
Diego Berger, Mekorot
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12:30-1:00 p.m: Agricultural Use and Distribution of Water
1. How do we maximize water efficiency in agriculture?
2. What financial incentives are needed to increase adoption of new technologies? (E.g.
commodity agriculture, small holder agriculture, precision agriculture, etc.)
Speakers:
Naty Barak, Netafim
Iris Yedidia, Volcani Institute and Eli Cohen, Ayala Water and Ecology
Madhyama Subramanian, University of California – Milken Innovation Center/UC-Berkeley,
Global Fellow
Respondents:
Roi Adar and Nissim Danielly, Autoagranom
Shaul Rom and David Cohen, RealiteQ
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LUNCH 1-2 p.m.
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Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies
Milken Innovation Center
2:00-3:00 p.m: Solution sets for a sustainable water economy
Moderator:
Michelle Moskowitz, Office of the Chancellor, UC Berkeley
Respondents:
Zvi Arom, Director, TaKaDu
Tim Strobel, Opterra Energy
Oded Distel, Israel New Tech, Ministry of Economy
Raanan Adin, Adin Holdings
Robert Feyer, Orrick
Alon Messer, Ministry of Finance, Budget Office
Industry development
1. What are the opportunities and disconnects in the water, energy, food nexus?
2. How can capital be deployed to strengthen and leverage the linkages among these
connections?
3. How to balance the competing and complementary interests between water
conservation and production?
Business, project development, and technology co-innovations
1. What are the opportunities to leverage the water value chain to strengthen the sector
and accelerate growth?
2. What business development and financial models can be deployed to attract talent,
capital, technology and financial co-innovations?
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3:00-4:30 p.m: Co-innovations Opportunities for Policy and Projects
1. What can be done?
2. How can it be done?
3. Forming teams, next steps, and schedule
Moderated Group Discussion - Glenn Yago,
Closing Remarks: Kathleen Brown, Robert Feyer, Yoram Cohen, David Sunding
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4:30-6:00 p.m. Closing Reception and Special Guests
Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies Garden
Special thanks to the financial sponsors of the California-Israel Global Innovation Partnership,
including The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, Blum Capital Partners, LP, Jacobs
Investment Company LLC, Leichtag Foundation, Arison Group, and the Milken Institute.
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