Despite forecasts by the Meteorological Service for average, or possibly slightly above average, winter precipitation, the amount of rain so far has been very disappointing, and even alarming.
The direct consequence of the lack of rain has been a further drop in the water level in the Kinneret, and the already empty aquifers are not filling up. If the drought persists, farmers will be forced to start irrigation in the middle of the winter rainy season.
As of today, the water level of the Kinneret is 210.84 meters below sea level, one centimeter below yesterday and 2.04 meters below the upper red line. The Kinneret has dropped 1.98 meters since the end of last winter. Since the onset of winter, instead of rising, the water level in the Kinneret has fallen 15 centimeters: 11 centimeters in November and four centimeters in early December.
Although forecasters predicted a dry November, they predicted that most of the rain would fall in December, January and February. So far, December has been a great disappointment.
The Water Commission hopes that the rains will resume, and fall evenly across the country. Last winter, almost all the rain fell in the north, leaving the center and south of the country completely dry. As a result, the water levels in the aquifers continued to fall and the water quality deteriorated. Israel's tripartite water reservoirs (the Kinneret, mountain aquifer and coastal aquifer) currently lacks 1.5 billion cubic meters of water. The lack of rain is further aggravating the situation.
The Water Commission warns that Israel's water problem is not lack of rain, but over-consumption of water. Consequently, there is no alternative to expanding the system by creating artificial water sources through treating wastewater and desalination.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on December 20, 2004