Mekorot has begun to operate the water line connecting the Be'er Sheva North station to the Shoket 2 drilling area.
The project is part of a larger project whose primary goal is to increase the supply of water along the Be'er Sheva – Shokat – Arad route, with the current one connecting the Tel Sheva area and all the communities of Shoket and the Bedouin settlements in the area, such as Lakiya, um Batin, um Kaf and others.
Once the line was operational, the area was connected to the national water supply system, which until now was based only on drilling and was limited in terms of water quantity.
The area is now connected to the national water system, which is supplied by five large desalination plants located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Previous supply restrictions have effectively disappeared, and numerous possibilities have opened up for residents of the area in urban development, agriculture or industry. Mekorot said they see great importance in connecting the southern regions to the national water system while responding to population growth and the residents' needs.
The cost of the project is estimated at NIS 30 million. The line is a 40-inch diameter steel line 6 km long and includes, among other things, eight horizontal drillings, some of which pass under highways.
The current connection complements the extensive activity of Mekorot in the south. A year ago, Mekorot completed the first connection of its kind in the Middle Arava region to the national water transmission system. At that time, a 30-kilometer water line was connected between the southern Dimona area and the Arava region at a cost estimated at NIS 50 million.
The demand for water in the region is growing at a constant pace relative to the supply of local water sources. The water shortage led to the approval of a master plan by the Water Authority, which focuses on the flow of water from the national system southward.