LOS ANGELES, CA – Councilmember Bob Blumenfield today convened the Los Angeles-Eilat Innovation and Cooperation Task Force at the Milken Global Conference, the annual symposium that brings together some of the world's brightest minds to explore solutions to today's most pressing challenges in financial markets, industry sectors, health, government and education.

The task force was created to facilitate the exchange of ideas and innovation between Israeli companies, education communities and non-profits and their counterparts in the City of Los Angeles. It was established following last year's signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU), based on legislation Blumenfield authored as an Assemblymember, to strengthen trade, research and economic development ties between California and the State of Israel.

In its second meeting, the task force members today explored innovation based solutions for tackling California’s water crisis, including increasing irrigation efficiency, enhancing groundwater recharge, and expanding water reclamation projects. Israel is a recognized leader in dealing with water scarcity issues.

“Israel and Los Angeles share much,” said Blumenfield, who chairs the Council’s Innovation, Technology and General Services Committee and serves as Governing co-Chair of the task force. “Unfortunately, that includes a challenging relationship with water. The task force is a remarkable platform for identifying nexus points to address these issues and promote innovation.”

Following the task force meeting, Blumenfield kicked off a larger roundtable discussion titled Energy-Water-Food Nexus: Implementation Projects for the California-Israel Global Innovation Initiative. That roundtable drew leaders from finance, non-profit, government and higher education, including Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor.