The Kinneret, Israel's largest reservoir and benchmark for
its water supply, began the rainy season at a dangerously low
214.42 meters below sea level -- almost 1.5 meters lower than
the "red line" level the government had previously deemed as
endangering the water table.
Record rainfall levels throughout the country, however, have
already restored a full 4.28 meters to the Kinneret, and it
currently stands at 210.14 meters below sea level.
Each meter represents 170 million cubic meters of water --
and this does not include the approximately 30 million cubic
meters that have been drawn from the Kinneret to Israel's two
other main aquifers over the past month.
Water continues to be drawn from the Kinneret at the rate of
approximately a million cubic meters a day -- and not for no
reason.
Uri Shorr, spokesman for Israel's Water Commission, told
Arutz-7 why not be complacent about the water situation:
"Let us recall that only 11 years ago, Israel's water supply
was near-perfect. The Kinneret was totally full, and the two
aquifers -- that of the coast and the mountain range -- were
also in excellent condition. Yet a few consecutive dry years
brought us to where we were only last year. Today, we are not
even in as good shape as we were in 1992. The Kinneret is not
full, and the aquifers are in poor condition. We must
therefore continue to conserve water."
The Jewish National Fund reports that the twin dangers facing
Israel's water supply -- drought and over- consumption --
have greatly exacerbated each other over the past decade.
"Israel's water resources yield 449 billion gallons each
year," a recent JNF report states, "but population growth and
a general increase in the standard of living have boosted
annual consumption to 580 billion gallons. With an annual
deficit of 131 billion gallons of water, Israel is over-
consuming its water resources by 25%."
Sixty percent of Israel's fresh water now goes to the
agricultural sector, down from 72%.
This saving has also put many farmers out of business,
however, and dropping agricultural consumption even further
would mean, among a host of other consequences, the inability
to sustain communities in the Negev, Aravah and Galilee, and
thus the loss of Israel's future land reserves.
Another partial solution is the agreement signed last year
with Turkey, wherein Turkey will ship 13.2 billion gallons of
water to Israel annually -- 3% of Israel's water supply --
beginning in 2004. While this agreement was politically
important for Israel in developing a relationship with a
Moslem country, it is not an economically advantageous
arrangement for Israel.
Israel will pay Turkey approximately three times what it
would cost for the same amount of recycled water, and about
twice the price of desalinated water. At best, reports the
JNF, this agreement will replace the 13.2 billion gallons of
water that Israel supplies to Jordan as part of the two
countries' 1994 peace agreement.
Israel's long-term efforts for supplying its water over the
next 40 years are concentrated on recycling and
desalinization.
The JNF is of the opinion that recycled water is the
preferred choice, as it is cheaper than desalinizing and can
be used for desalinized water as well. The more than 150 new
reservoirs and dams that the JNF built for this purpose
proved their worth this past year, as the reservoirs filled
with water that would otherwise have been lost.
More such reservoirs are planned for the future.
