The High Commissioner, General Sir Arthur Wauchope, received this morning the members of the Jerusalem Water Board, and informed them that the pre-war water supply concession granted during the Turkish occupation of Palestine, has now been terminated, so that the Government has surmounted the legal difficulties which stood in the way of providing a proper water-supply for Jerusalem. The Government is arranging for a loan, he announced, with a view to providing an adequate water supply.
The inadequacy of the Jerusalem water supply was discussed last February by the High Commissioner with a delegation of the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce. Members of the delegation, which was headed by Mr. Shelley, pointed out that the development of Jerusalem was being gravely retarded because of the water shortage, and that people in Egypt and elsewhere were being discouraged from using Palestine as a summer resort for that reason.
The High Commissioner replied that he was deeply concerned over the water situation and that both as High Commissioner and a resident of Jerusalem, he would do his utmost towards remedying the situation.
When the British occupied Jerusalem in December 1917 the only water supply was derived from private rain-fed cisterns. The Commander-in-chief ordered a piped water supply to be put into Jerusalem.
The first complete modern water supply system in Jerusalem was inaugurated by Lord Plumer in July 1926. The works were constructed by Sir John Jackson, Ltd., at a cost of £52,000 borne by the Palestine Government.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
