The Water Authority and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are working together to revive a plan to import water from Turkey by tankers, according to preliminary answers that Water Authority director general Uri Shani provided the State Inquiry Committee Investigating the Water Shortage, headed by Judge Emeritus Dan Bein. The committee will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow.
Shani said that the average range of prices of water imported from Turkey was higher than the price of desalinated seawater. He added that the import of 30 million cubic meters of water would take 18 months, and the water could be taken through terminals at Hadera and Palmachim without the need to make major changes in the national water system.
"We're still in a severe crisis, which could last until the large desalination plants at Ashdod and Soreq come online in 2013," warned Shani. He said that not only would the water shortage continue, but maintaining the water quality was becoming more difficult as the population in Israel and neighboring counties continues to grow.
Shani said that even if the 2009-10 winter rains are good, "We still don’t have enough water to meet needs during another drought."
Shani said that the campaign to conserve water and the drought tax were helping, and that water consumption seemed to have dropped sharply. "The water consumption target in 2009 was 91 cubic meters per person per year. This seemed very ambitious when the target was set. In fact, it appears that water consumption will be 89 cubic meters per person in 2009. Levying the drought tax on excess consumption in 2010 for a full year will probably further reduce consumption to about 87 cubic meters per person per year."
At the same time, “IDF Radio" (Galei Zahal) reports that Israel will replace its ambassador to Turkey in Ankara and Turkey will replace its ambassador in Tel Aviv within a few months. The measures are part of an effort to turn the page in the countries' bilateral relations.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 19, 2009
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