Clive Lipchin

Clive serves as the director of the Center for Transboundary Water Management at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, where he oversees research and development projects, workshops and conferences that focus on transboundary water and environmental problems facing Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. His specialty is in water resources management and policy. Clive has conducted research for a number of international water agencies such as the World Bank, EU, UNDP and USAID and has been involved most recently with the European Union's Water Initiative project for the Mediterranean region and the USAID Conflict Management and Mitigation (CMM) program and the Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC) program. He also served as the Israeli partner for the USDA funded project - CONSERVE (COordinating Nontraditional Sustainable watER use in Variable climatEs): A Center of Excellence at the Nexus of Sustainable Water Reuse, Food and Health.” 

Clive's research and development work has recently focused on cross-border stream restoration and waste water management issues between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and on integrated food, energy and water systems for off-grid communities in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority and the developing world. He is also leading a study in wastewater epidemiology on monitoring the presence of the corona virus in wastewater in Israel and the West Bank as part of an early warning public health program on combatting the spread of the virus in marginalized communities in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. 

Clive also serves as the CEO of Laguna Innovation: www.lagunainnovation.com. The company has developed an innovative off grid and onsite wastewater treatment and reuse technology. The company provides wastewater treatment services to communities, farmers, industry and any other water user that is not connected to a sewer system.  The company not only treats the wastewater onsite but returns it to the customer as high quality effluent for irrigation use in agriculture or for any other non-potable use of water. The company has run successful proof of concept pilots in Israel and the West Bank and is now actively working with clients in Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and South Africa.

Clive, a native from South Africa has been living in Israel for over twenty years. He received a BSc degree in zoology at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, a BSc Honors in wildlife management from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, a MSc in desert ecology from the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel and a PhD in resource ecology management from the School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan.

Areas of Expertise: off grid water; food and energy technologies; off-grid wastewater treatment and reuse for irrigation and other non-potable uses.