The Long Dry Winter

Whilst Israel has been preoccupied with a war in Gaza and a general election over the past few months, the country's water resources have quietly been drying up. Maybe it has not been so quiet as it has received significant press coverage and air time. It's just when you are fighting a war of survival, water problems seem to take a back seat.

The water problems are not new. Israel is a country that does not see a drop of rain at all for approximately 5 months each year over the summer period. The winter rain is, therefore, critical to fill the main water storage sources to cover the summer period as well. The three main water sources are the Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee), which provides most of Israel's water, together with the underground coastal and inland aquifers. The winter of 2008/9 has proven to be a long dry one with barely any rainfall. The rains to date have been scarcely sufficient to cover the water demand over the winter, never mind provide supply for the summer. And this after the water situation at the end of the summer in 2008 was dire.

For the first time ever, the water level in the Kinneret has dipped below the "black line". This is the level of the pumps in the Kinneret, and below which it is impossible to pump any water. The Israeli government had previously determined a "red line" for the Kinneret below which it was not advised to continue to pump water for fear of damaging the Kinneret. A "lower red line" was subsequently coined to allow pumping for up to approximately 5 metres below the red line. The black line, more than a metre below the lower red line has now also been breached. Fortunately, some rain in recent weeks and snow on the Hermon has succeeded in raising the level above the black line for now. When the snow melts, this will hopefully direct more more water into the Kinneret. This will clearly, however, not be anywhere near enough for the summer months.

The water shortage has been driven by a combination of lower rainfall and higher demand. The government, whilst being aware of the impending problem for a number of years, has been slow to react. This is not to say that no action has been taken at all.

• Desalination plants have already been built that currently satisfy approximately 10% of Israel's water needs. These include the world's largest reverse osmosis plant in Ashkelon. Further plants are under construction to provide significantly more desalinated water.
• Drip irrigation has been in use for a number of years in much of Israel's agricultural sector and most gardens in Israel's towns and cities. This is a uniquely Israeli invention to allow the most efficient use of water for gardening and agricultural purposes.
  
• Approximately 70% of Israel's waste water is recycled. It is intended to raise this to 100% in the near future. After going through a cleansing process, recycled water is used for agricultural irrigation.
• Water restrictions and recommendations are in place across Israel. Although not sufficiently closely policed and probably requiring some even stronger measures, it shows evidence of an attempt by the authorities to reduce the water consumption.

But even these measures will not provide us with the water required in the summer of 2009. So what do we do? Despite the fact that the rainfall of the winter of 2001/2 filled the Kinneret from empty in one season, such a miracle will not happen in 2009 especially when considering that most of the winter is behind us. In typically Israeli fashion, a last-minute solution seems to have been found to tide us over the worst of our problems over the next few years. Prof. Uri Shani, Head of Israel's Water Authority announced that temporary desalination plants will be readied before the summer of 2009. These plants, whilst providing less water than the permanent plants and at a much higher cost, will provide Israel with urgently-needed water for the next 3 to 5 years until the permanent plants are ready. This, together with drilling more wells and further treatment of contaminated water, will suffice Israel's water needs according to Prof. Shani.

It is only in Israel where a last-minute solution is found for a national problem with severe potential consequences which works, and the government gets away with it.

Rain at Last

The skies have finally opened. We had a few drops the day before yesterday, but they could hardly be called rain. In fact, in most countries, the event would have gone completely unnoticed. It lasted about 3 minutes and hardly even wet the ground. But in an area where there has been no precipitation at all, not even a tiny drop, for more than 5 months, this was a momentous event. The schoolchildren came pouring out of their classrooms to run about in the "rain" and to experience the unique feeling of being outdoors and getting wet. What excitement there was.

This was followed yesterday by a slightly heavier and more extended downpour, probably 10 minutes in all. This could qualify as rain, and maybe even as the "yoreh". As far as I know, Hebrew is the only language which has a unique word to describe the first rains of the season - yoreh. And, in a region where rains are almost as unique as the peace that we desperately seek, it is very appropriate to have a special word that serves to add the desired importance to this much anticipated event.

You may recall reading in my previous blog, The Water Conundrum, about the predictions that taps would run dry in Israel during the summer of 2008. Well, they did not. Many regard this as a miracle. But this country is a water miracle. How we manage to survive each year with seemingly lower and lower rainfall, and higher and higher demand is nothing short of miraculous. In my previous blog, I was critical of the way in which the authorities have managed, or mismanaged, this summer's drought. And yet, without any drama, fanfare or significant rationing programs, we seem to be at the end of the danger period. This is a miracle.

True, we cannot suddenly celebrate the end of the drought on the basis of a few drops of rain that were hardly sufficient to water the garden. But this does hopefully signal the end to the dry season, and the start to a rainy season that will rival that of 1991/2.

As I previously mentioned, the summer of 1991 saw Israel's primary water source, the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) drop to 214.87 metres below sea level. This is agonisingly close to the level of 215 metres below sea level when all pumping from the Kinneret would be halted. All the water experts agreed that it would require approximately 10 years of above-average rainfall to fill the Kinneret from that low point. And yet, during the rainy season that followed, the Kinneret was filled to the brim. In fact, there was even a requirement to open the sluice gates to prevent the Kinneret from running over. Whilst this is remarkable, what is even more remarkable is that this happened without major flooding of any type. Being able to absorb the equivalent of 10 years of above-average rainfall in one season without any flooding or disaster can only be described as a miracle.

When measured about two months ago, the level of water in the Kinneret reached 213.38 metres below sea level. At its low point this year, it will not be too far off the low level in 1991. When the traditional Jewish prayer for rain begins in about three weeks' time, we will be praying for an additional miracle in the rainy season of 2008/9. In addition to praying for enough rain to fill the Kinneret, we will also require sufficient rains to fill both the coastal and the mountain aquifers. Despite the good rains of 1991/2, there was not sufficient to replenish the supplies in the aquifers. As a result, the aquifer levels are lower than they have been previously, and in danger of permanent damage due to over pumping.

Those people who do not believe in miracles require only a short visit to Israel to be convinced that the fact that we manage to get by in spite of the way in which the water resource is handled can be nothing short of miraculous. We hope and pray that these miracles continue. Perhaps the new miracle will be that the relevant authorities will be more proactive in managing our most scarce and precious resource.

I suppose we can only pray for so many miracles!

The Water Conundrum

Water has always been a major issue for the countries of the Middle East. The State of Israel has had a particular challenge in providing sufficient quantities for the consumption of its residents, businesses, industries and agriculture. Until 2008, the Israeli government has somehow managed to get by in ensuring that sufficient has been available each year, particularly during the dry summer months.

I say until 2008, because this is the year that the taps are predicted to run dry in Israel. How could this happen? How could it come to pass that a country with the technological capability of Israel and some of the best brains in the world can allow a situation where, barring a major miracle, the taps will shortly run dry? The answer lies in many years of mismanagement of the limited water resources at our disposal, and particular mismanagement of the water consumption.

Israel's natural water sources are limited to the Sea of Galilee (the Kinneret) and the underground coastal and mountain aquifers. Israel's current annual demand for water is more than 2 billion cubic metres. 65% to 70% of this demand is supplied by the above-mentioned natural resources. The remaining demand is satisfied by a number of smaller aquifers and underground reservoirs, with less than 10% of the country's current demand satisfied by desalination. This is despite the fact that the world's largest reverse osmosis desalination plant is located in the southern coastal city of Ashkelon. There is a further much smaller plant at Palmachim. A third plant in the city of Hadera is due to begin producing water in 2009 at approximately the same rate as the Ashkelon plant.

The level of water in the Kinneret was measured at the end of June at 212.70 metres below sea level. The Government-set red line, representing the level beyond which water should not be drawn from the Kinneret, is 213 metres below sea level. Water will, however, continue to be drawn from the Kinneret below 213 metres up to the so-called black line at 215 metres below sea level. At this level, it has been determined that irreparable damage to the Kinneret will be caused. It is true that the Kinneret dropped to a level of 214.87 metres below sea level during the summer of 2001, but our water situation is much more serious in 2008. The reason for this is due to the precarious state of the aquifers which are at a much lower level now than in 2001. It has been claimed that some aquifers have already suffered irreparable damage due to over pumping.

Whilst it is clear that much more could, and should, have been done to supplement the supply of water, what can be said about the management of the consumption of water? The scarcity of water is something that all Israelis are aware of, and that children are educated about from a young age. Almost all toilets have a double flush system, gardens are watered using drip irrigation systems and few people take baths in favour of showers. These are all in-grained in the national psyche in the interests of conserving water. Despite this fact, I was surprised to read recently that Israelis use more water per capita than the Germans who have an oversupply of water.

My major issue, however, is the way in which the water disaster of 2008 has been handled by the authorities. It is true that water restrictions are in place which prevent certain wasteful uses of water. How well have these been advertised? And more importantly, how well are they being policed? It seems to me that they are not being policed at all. I recall drought years during my youth in South Africa. I also recall the measures that were taken to conserve the use of water. Every public water tap had a sticker warning the user to conserve water. Each household was given an allocation of how much water they were allowed to consume on a daily and weekly basis. There was not a resident who did not know what their family's daily consumption of water was. No household waste water was allowed to go down the drain. After washing the dishes, bathing or brushing your teeth, the waste water would be carefully conserved to use for flushing toilets or watering the garden. Most homes had rainwater tanks which would collect the rainwater off the roofs during the rainy season, and this water would be used for watering the garden. This was water conservation at its best.

Regrettably, we do not see any of these measures in place in Israel. This is largely due to the lack of political will to significantly beef up and police water conservation measures. But, more than this, there is a financial conflict of interests at play.

Local authorities in Israel make significant income from the sale of water. Whether the water is obtained from the city's own aquifers or bought from the national carrier, there is a good profit to be made from the sale of water to its residents. There is, therefore, clearly no incentive on the part of the local authorities to work to reduce the consumption of water by its citizens. On the contrary, the city's coffers are a good deal better off when there is increased consumption. It is my impression that this financial consideration is the main obstacle in the path of real water conservation actions that could make a measurable difference to Israel's consumption patterns.

Despite the fact that the government now has plans in place to increase the production of desalinated water sevenfold by 2020, I believe that, at the current rate of growth in usage, demand will outstrip even this supply unless the right conservation measures can be put in place.

The solution to the water conundrum requires a solution to the financial conflict of interests first. Lack of political will to resolve this problem will ensure ongoing water problems for the foreseeable future.