The Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) has risen 15 cm in the past two days, adding 26.25 million cubic meters of water to the lake.
The water level stood at minus 213.85 meters below sea level on Sunday. It rose 15 cm by Wednesday, and was measured at minus 213.70 today.
Although the Kinneret has risen 71 cm this winter, it is still 4.8 meters below the red line, and lacks 840 million cubic meters of water - the annual production of nine desalination facilities with up to 100 million cubic meters capacity a year each.
124.5 million cubic meters of water has entered the Kinneret since January 1, 2003, only a fraction of the lake’s annual 800 million cubic meter inflow. This inflow consists of 480 million cubic meters from the Golan and Galilee rivers, 220 million cubic meters from springs, 75 million cubic meters from precipitation and 25 million cubic meters diverted from the Yarmouk River.
The status of the mountain and coastal aquifers is not yet known, since they refill more slowly, depending on the rate of seepage through the overlying rocks.
The Water Commission states that it is already clear that precipitation in the 2003 winter will not be a drought. Precipitation to date is already close to the multi-year average. Nevertheless, there is a shortfall of 3 billion cubic meters of water in Israel’s three main reservoirs.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on January 30, 2003