The Water Authority is optimistic about the precipitation to date in this winter's rainy season, and predicts that the Kinneret's water level will reach two meters below the upper red line when the rainy season ends.
Hebrew daily "Ma'ariv" reported today that, by this weekend, the Kinneret is set to break a record of almost 20 years, based on precipitation through December. "This is definitely a better-than-expected start," says Water Authority directory of the surface water hydrology service Dr. Amir Givati. He said that Saturday's rainfall resulted in the heaviest river flows since 1994. "And this is even before next Saturday's rainfall," he added.
Since the end of October, the Kinneret's water level has risen 16 centimeters to 212.67 meters below sea level. "We estimated at the start of the winter that we would have average precipitation. We now believe that we will have at least average precipitation, and maybe even more," said Givati.
Water Authority calculations predict that the Kinneret's water level will reach minus 210.80 meters below sea level at the end of the rainy season, assuming average precipitation, just two meters below the lake's upper red line. "Obviously, if precipitation is higher than the multiyear average, the water level will be higher," said Givati, hopefully.
The weather forecast for this weekend is wintery, with rain and thunderstorms, a sharp drop in temperatures, and heavy snowfall on Mount Hermon.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 18, 2012
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012