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The river runs through his veins
17/01/2007. Source:IVCJ.
 The Yarkon River has undergone an environmental transformation, says the Israel Venture Capital Journal. In this IVCJ article, Isabel Maxwell profiles David Pargament – the turnaround specialist that made it happen.
Spending time with David Pargament, you can almost see the Yarkon River coursing through his veins – he cares about it that much. Pargament is one of the country’s leading environmental innovators and CEO Director of the Yarkon River Authority, overseeing the Yarkon that flows through the ’24-hour city’ of Tel Aviv.
As a small country experiencing rapid economic growth, Israel faces serious air and water pollution, as well as problems disposing of solid and hazardous waste. The endangered Yarkon River is the largest coastal river in Israel. It originates northeast of Tel Aviv and flows into the Mediterranean Sea. It is about 18 miles in length and runs through seven cities, including Tel Aviv. David, along with former mayors and present day Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai, recognized early on that the river plays an important role in the cultural and recreational life of modern Israel. This factor helped convince the seven diverse municipalities, various government offices, NGOs and statutory bodies of the value in cooperating and providing funds to upgrade the river and its systems.
In 1993, the river and its tributaries were in a dreadful state. The first manager, David reminisces, had managed to alienate every single stakeholder involved. The spring waters at the head of the river had been so depleted by pumping to other areas and cities that the Yarkon became a smelly dumping ground for cars and beds, and dead fish were clogging the waters daily. David has been responsible for the Yarkon River Authority since 1993. American-born, and bearing the belying physique of a hippy from Santa Cruz with his long ponytail and bushy beard, David came to Israel as a young boy.
His single-minded passion for "The River" turned him from one of a team of devoted stream monitors to a national leader in environmental innovation. Like a great turnaround specialist of a seriously ill company, David set about rebuilding relationships with all the stakeholders. He reenergized a demoralized but expert team and began creatively blending four sources of funding from government budgets, philanthropy, revenue streams from business opportunities (in upgrading waste treatment and real estate), and financial markets to fund park maintenance and development. He and his team then proactively set about major projects of water reuse and upgrading the wastewater plants that had never been tried before.
Ron Huldai, whom David reports to as Chair of the River Authority, became a big supporter of him early on - "David," he says, "is persistent and considerate and has overcome lack of budget and multiple difficulties to bring a huge improvement in the quality of water and functioning of the river."
Dr. Glenn Yago, Director of Capital Markets at the Milken Institute in Los Angeles, was one of the outside professionals who advised David’s new practices and management ways of the Yarkon, a case study for replicating great management practices for rivers and streams throughout Israel. He clearly admires him, too – "David is incredibly committed to his mission and doesn't give up despite delays, bureaucracy, or changes of government and leadership."
Richard Laster, an environmental attorney and Professor of Environmental Studies at the Hebrew University, who has been deeply involved for the past decade with legal aspects of the River Authority, also knows David well. Laster observes that he has a "unique ability to work with people of many disciplines and interpret their language for others" – for instance, "hydrologists and politicians have to be able to talk to each other." Over the years, David has demonstrated exceptional communication qualities.
For example, he is skilled in explaining to the mayors how investing in upgrading the river will bring serious ‘bang for their buck’ [read revenues for the tax base of their cities]. This success has resulted in a much higher awareness of the river’s needs and its role in providing amenities to the population. But David is not done yet. He is a great entrepreneur, but he is actually a great social entrepreneur as well in his desire to extend proper river management practices to all the tributaries of the Yarkon and beyond. Today though, his dream – that the government create an actual watershed authority to encompass the entire river system for true integrated management – is still just that, a dream.
David feels like a wholly integrated person through his work, academic and personal life (he lives on the banks of the Alexander tributary). Given the trend toward increased public and private investment in cleantech, David’s vision may hopefully come to pass, and the Yarkon can yet become a national asset. Moreover, it can be a true model for how a river and its systems can be revitalized at its core, and in doing so, can help instill vigor in the economic, social and recreational life of millions of citizens on a daily basis. A dream of a turnaround.
This article appeared in the Israel Venture Capital & Private Equity Journal (IVCJ). IVC Research Center publishes the Israel Venture Capital & Private Equity Journal, a quarterly review of trends and developments in the Israeli-related venture capital industry. IVCJ, distributed worldwide, is dedicated to provide wide-range coverage of Israel's venture capital industry. For more information please visit www.ivc-online.com
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