Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) received word today that the Ariel 1 well is in operation, and pumping 120 cubic meters (4238 cubic feet) of water per hour.

Samaria has been suffering a severe water shortage, due to a lack of infrastructure and illegal Palestinian water siphoning.

Minister Ariel has been pushing for solutions, with a special focus on installing the infrastructure necessary to pump local groundwater. Ariel 1 is one of such projects, located near the eponymous eastern Samaria city.

The Mekorot water company, which provides water across Israel, reported to Ariel that the well will produce some 250 cubic meters (8829 cubic feet) per hour by tomorrow – roughly 212,000 cubic feet a day.

“I bless the Mekorot Company for the special effort it made to repair the [Ariel 1] drill, and am working to speed up long-term solutions.”