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J.N.F. Director Arrives in N.y., Reports New Source of Water Supply for Jerusalem

November 9, 1950
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A new water supply for the city of Jerusalem has just been made available through the boring operations conducted by the Jewish National Fund in the Judean Hills, Elias M. Epstein, overseas director of the Jewish National Fund, reported today upon his arrival in New York from Israel. This new water supply renders Jerusalem independent of the water sources in the Arab-controlled areas, he emphasized.

Using an American Hopper Borer which went down to a depth of 300 meters at Kfar Uriah about ten miles from Jerusalem, the organization found sweet water in quantities of 300 cubic meters per hour, Mr. Epstein declared. The present water supply of Jerusalem is being drawn from the Givat Brenner area, more than 20 miles from the city.

Mr. Epstein, who is in this country to confer with American leaders on the Jewish National Fund’s plans for its coming Jubilee Year, also revealed that the largest reclamation project in Israel–the drainage of the Huleh basin in Galilee, where 40,000 dunams are under water–has been initiated by the Fund. The elimination of the marshes of Huleh would transform the face of Eastern Galilee and prove of outstanding economic value in the agricultural development of Israel and its absorption of thousands of immigrants now reaching its shores, Mr. Epstein said.

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