February was this country’s driest month in terms of rainfall for the past eighty years. This was determined by Prof. Moshe Inbar, of Haifa University’s Faculty of Geography.
According to Inbar, precipitation quantities to date in the Sea of Galilee’s catchment basin are the lowest posted in the past fifty five years.
According to Inbar, even if March and April record more rainfall than usual, the chances of their contributing significant quantities of water to the Sea of Galilee are poor. This is because evaporation increases in those months, and the land is covered with vegetation. Therefore, there is less likelihood of significant flooding.
Inbar predicts that the sea level of the Sea of Galilee will reach the danger line at the end of the summer of 1999. He finds it regrettable that the government is not taking extensive and substantial domestic consumption reducing measures. Domestic consumption amounts to 500 million cubic metres annually.
A ten percent reduction in domestic water consumption, Inbar says, would be a significant contribution, since that would match the quantity produced by the projected desalination plant.
Inbar further notes that the local authorities have no great incentive for economising on water, "since they purchase water for NIS 1 per cubic metre, and sell it for NIS 5 per cubic metre". Inbar calls for penalties on excessive use of water, and steps to discourage water consumption.
Published by Israel's Business Arena March 2, 1999