Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research Faculty Research profiles, 2012 Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research – ZIWR Prof. Eilon Adar, Director The Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research (ZIWR) was founded in January 2002 within the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research at the Sede Boqer Campus of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The Institute unites under one roof all aspects of water resources research, including extensive research activities in diverse water sciences ranging from groundwater production and desalination technologies, to treatments for marginal water sources. Particular emphasis is placed on the research and development of dryland water resources. The sciences and technologies of water desalination, water engineering, environmental hydrology, hydrogeology, hydrobiology, hydrochemistry, as well as water resource economics and management are all disciplines practiced in the Institute. Two pilot facilities, one for Water Treatment & Desalination and the other for Flow & Transport in Groundwater Reservoirs, have been established to study and develop advanced water-related technologies. Two departments operate within the Institute: The Department of Desalination & Water Treatment (DWT) The Department of Environmental Hydrology & Microbiology (EHM) The Department of Environmental Hydrology & Microbiology promotes the advancement of research into the identification, quantification and quality improvement of arid zone water. Activities within the Department are aimed at studying and developing water resources in desert basins with scarce hydro-geological information. In particular, we are developing methods for the treatment, reclamation and remediation of water in arid regions. Departmental activities include: Identification & quantification of sources of groundwater recharge, Calculation & quantification of subsurface flow and transport mechanisms, Remediation of water and soils using biotechnology, Transport of contaminants to and within groundwater reservoirs, Biological treatment of domestic and industrial wastewater, Optimization of water production and transfer systems, Understanding the ecology of flow systems in aquifers and underground water reservoirs, Enhancement of groundwater collection, Development of biological treatment for industrial and domestic effluents, Upscaling laboratory-scale treatment processes, and Management of regional and international transboundary groundwater reservoirs. The multidisciplinary academic staff consists of hydrologists, hydrogeologists, hydrobiologists, hydrochemists and microbiologists investigating water resources at the field, laboratory and theoretical-modeling levels. The ultimate goal of these efforts is to propose and evaluate methods for the development and optimal utilization of limited water resources. Academic Staff Adar, Eilon (Professor) Arnon, Shai (Lecturer) Dahan, Ofer (Senior lecturer) Gillor, Osnat– (Senior lecturer) Gross, Amit (Associate Professor) Nejidat, Ali (Associate Professor) Ronen, Zeev (Associate Professor) Sorek, Shaul (Professor) Weisbrod, Noam (Associate Professor) Yakirevich, Alexander (Associate Professor) Adjunct Staff Prof. Daniel Ronen – Israel Water Authority Prof. Yossi Yechieli – Israel Geological Survey. Professors Emeriti Prof. Arie Issar Prof. Gideon Oron Kaplan, Drora (Senior Lecturer) Soares, Ines (Researcher Grade A) N ZIWR - Director Research interests Prof. Adar’s main research activities are associated with quantitative assessment of groundwater flow systems and sources of recharge in complex arid basins with puzzling geology and scarce hydrological information. Adar has developed the novel Mixing Cell Modeling approach utilizing hydrochemistry and environmental isotopes coupled with a flow model. The Mixing Cell Model for steady flow system (MCMsf) model is based on quadratic programming. The MCMstf version also provides the opportunity to assess the aquifer’s transmissivities. It has been further developed into a user-friendly code (MCMusf) for the definition of transient (unsteady) groundwater flow systems in multiple-aquifer flow patterns. The MCMusf is solved by linear programming with linear constraints which are based on spatial and temporal distribution of environmental tracers. The model can also be used for quantifying fluxes among complex coupled stream-aquifer systems. The model has been applied in several hydrological basins worldwide, from the Kalahari Desert (Namibia), South Africa, Yizrael and Bessor basins (Israel), to the Ili basin in Kazakhstan. The novel MCMusf approach was applied to quantify the hydraulic connectivity among the Arava sub-aquifer units of Jordan and Israel in order to define the transient groundwater flow system and the relative groundwater contribution from Jordanian and Israeli sources. Among other research activities, are the initiation and/or involvement in the investigation of (1) the role of water reservoirs and shallow groundwater on top-soil salinization in the Yizrael Valley; (2) the effects of forestation over sand-dune terrain on local groundwater reservoirs; (3) the dynamics of flow and pollutant transport in a fractured chalk aquitard (low permeable yet fractured formation) in the vicinity of the Ramat Hovav Industrial Park; (4) identification and quantification of pollutant sources into ephemeral rivers from various basins with different anthropogenic activities; (5) the effect of industrial effluents on the hydraulic properties of a fractured chalk aquitard; (6) identification of irregular salinization processes in the Coastal Aquifer of Israel; (7) salinization and deterioration of topsoil water quality due to anthropogenic activities; (8) soil and groundwater contamination in the coastal aquifer of Israel (Ramat Hasharon area) by organic industrial pollutants and (9) hydrological aspects of management and policy associated with transboundary water resources in Israel and the Middle East. Funded Research Projects 2011-2012 2008-2011 "Assessing and identifying the processes of natural attenuation of explosives in contaminated groundwater aquifer using stable isotopes of nitrogen and oxygen". ISF – Israel Science Foundation. (Z. Ronen, F. Gailman & E. Adar). 2009-2012 AQUAREHAB: Development of rehabilitation technologies and approaches for multi- pressured degraded waters and the integration of their impact on river basin management". The European FP7 ENV 2008.3.1.1.1. project framework “Rehabilitation technologies for degraded water systems presenting quantity and quality problems” 20 European research partners. WP 2 (BGU-ZIWR): "Tailored carrier/bacteria technology for rehabilitation of areas with pesticide-containing pollution" (Adar, E.M, Weisbrod, N. Ronen, Z. and Hertzberg, M.) 2010-2012 Interactive bioremediation of perchlorate contamination in deep unsaturated soils.Ofer . Israel Water Authority, Dahan (PI), Zeev Ronen, Eilon 2011-2013 Innovative tools for the evaluation of in situ degradation of brominated organic contaminants in groundwater (BOC’s). BMBF-MOST. (Ronen, Z., F. Gelman and E. Adar). 2011-2014 The Origin, Attenuation, and Distribution of Pollution in the Trans-boundary Coupled Stream-Aquifer System over Judea and Samaria (Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Charina Endowment Fund Inc., N.Y, N.Y. USA. (E. Adar) 2012-2013 “Feasibility study for draining viscous contaminated groundwater from fractured chalk formation”. The Environmental Service Company- Ramat Hovav, Israel. (E. Adar). 2012-2014 “The future impact of groundwater abstraction from regional deep aquifers on the upper aquifer in the Hulla Valley, Israel”. Ministry of Water & Energy-The Israeli water Authority. (E. Adar and Avi Burg). 2013-2015 “Groundwater Sources and quantitative water balance In the Upper Jordan (Hulla) Valley-Identifying and Quantifying the Water Sources that Recharge the Groundwater in the Hulla Valley and those that Feed the Jordan River Springs”. JNF-USA. (E. Adar and Avi Burg). Conferences - 2011-2012 Participated: 2011- 6, 2012 - 6 Invited 2011-2012 2011 "Water in Arid Lands: Mapping and Managing a Scarce Resource in the Middle East". Invited plenary presentation at the Philosophical Society of Washington DC. Washington DC, USA, 25 February, 2011. 2011 “From Academic Innovations in the Water Arena to Products – From Invention to Water Industry: The Israeli Experience”. Invited plenary presentation at the “Foro de Negocios Verdes 2011” (Green Business Forum 2011). Centro del Agua para América Latina y el Caribe- Tecnológico de Monterrey. Mexico City, April 4-5, 2011. 2011 “From Invention to to Product – From Academy to Water Industry” Chairperson and mediator: at the “3rd International Conference on Water Technologies, Renewable Energy & Environmental Control”. Tel Aviv, Israel. 15-17 November, 2011. 2012 “Management of Scarce Water Resources and Development of Appropriate Technologies for Sustainable Water Supply-Examples from Israel & the Middle East”. Invited plenary presentation at the National University de La Matanza. Buenos Aires, Argentina. April 17, 2012. 2012 “Innovation from the World’s Leading Water ‘Hubs': Israel - From Innovations to Products - From Research to Water Industry”. Invited presentation at the 3rd Annual BlueTech Forum. San Francisco, CA. May 29, 2012. Publications 2011-2012 Refereed articles in scientific journals 1. Bernstein A., Eilon M. Adar, Ali Nejidat and Zeev Ronen (2011). Isolation and characterization of RDX-degrading Rhodococcus species