Only a few years ago, Israelis were concerned about the question of
how they could continue to grow their first world economy with a growing
population in a country where there simply wasn’t enough water. What
followed was a major investment in technology and enactment of sensible
policies about water use that led to this startling fact. As the Times
states, “More than 50 percent of the water for Israeli households,
agriculture and industry is now artificially produced.” Though water is
expensive, the prospect that the country will run out is gone. In a
region that is in desperate need of Israel’s expertise, you would think
this development would lead to better relations with the Palestinians
and the Arab world. But what is missing from the Times’ story
is the fact that there is little sign of any interest in cooperation on
the part of Israel’s antagonists. As much as they ought to take
advantage of the Jewish state’s advances, such concerns are always
secondary to their main priority: fighting Israel.
The story of how Israel revolutionized its production and use of
water is another proud chapter in the country’s history. In the past
couple of decades as attacks on Israel’s legitimacy have multiplied, we
haven’t heard much about Jews making the desert bloom. That old line
about the rebirth of this old land under the care of a returned people
has been treated as an outdated cliché by biased journalists who
preferred story lines that reinforced the libels about Israel being an
apartheid state. That theme was also part of the narrative about water.
To the extent that water has been mentioned much in the news, it
generally served as another point of attack as Palestinian claims that
Israel was “stealing” their water in the West Bank was often reported as
fact rather than a political talking point. As even the Times notes in
its feature, Israel continues to supply the Palestinians with more water
than it is required to do under the Oslo Accords. Israel shares the
mountain aquifer that runs through the West Bank with the Palestinians.
But the Palestinians position is that they are entitled to all of it,
not just their share.
The underlying problem of that discussion has
always been the assumption that all of the territory is “Palestinian
land’ to which Israel has no legitimate claim. But even if you think
Israel ought to cede much of that territory if the Palestinians are ever
willing to make peace, the problem with this argument is that the Arabs
still don’t recognize Israeli rights to any water except the sea into
which they have been trying to push the Jews ever since they began
returning to their ancient homeland.
It might make sense for Israelis and Arabs to cooperate about water.
But if water remains an issue that exacerbates the conflict rather than
solving it, it’s not because the Israelis aren’t willing to share their
expertise or even some of the water they are desalinizing or treating
for further use. It’s because water, like economic development, has
always been beside the point to Palestinians and other Arabs and
Muslims.
As California thirsts, Israel beats its water crisis - permanently
When I was in the US two weeks ago, I was told that in California, it's forbidden to flush your toilet unless someone has had a bowel movement in it. Meanwhile, here in Israel, we have resolved a water crisis that threatened us with a perpetual drought.
A
hefty tax was placed on excessive household water consumption,
penalizing families with lawns, swimming pools or leaky pipes. So many
of Mr. Zvieli’s clients went over to synthetic grass and swapped their
seasonal blooms for hardy, indigenous plants more suited to a semiarid
climate. “I worried about where gardening was going,” said Mr. Zvieli,
56, who has tended people’s yards for about 25 years.
Across
the country, Israelis were told to cut their shower time by two
minutes. Washing cars with hoses was outlawed and those few wealthy
enough to absorb the cost of maintaining a lawn were permitted to water
it only at night.
“We
were in a situation where we were very, very close to someone opening a
tap somewhere in the country and no water would come out,” said Uri
Schor, the spokesman and public education director of the government’s
Water Authority.
But that was about six years ago. Today, there is plenty of water in Israel. A lighter version of an old “Israel
is drying up” campaign has been dusted off to advertise baby diapers.
“The fear has gone,” said Mr. Zvieli, whose customers have gone back to
planting flowers.
As California and other western areas of the United States grapple with
an extreme drought, a revolution has taken place here. A major national
effort to desalinate Mediterranean seawater and to recycle wastewater
has provided the country with enough water for all its needs, even
during severe droughts. More than 50 percent of the water for Israeli
households, agriculture and industry is now artificially produced.
...
The
turnaround came with a seven-year drought, one of the most severe to
hit modern Israel, that began in 2005 and peaked in the winter of 2008
to 2009. The country’s main natural water sources — the Sea of Galilee
in the north and the mountain and coastal aquifers — were severely
depleted, threatening a potentially irreversible deterioration of the
water quality.
Measures
to increase the supply and reduce the demand were accelerated, overseen
by the Water Authority, a powerful interministerial agency established
in 2007.
Desalination
emerged as one focus of the government’s efforts, with four major
plants going into operation over the past decade. A fifth one should be
ready to operate within months.
Together, they will produce a total of
more than 130 billion gallons of potable water a year, with a goal of
200 billion gallons by 2020.
Israel
has, in the meantime, become the world leader in recycling and reusing
wastewater for agriculture. It treats 86 percent of its domestic
wastewater and recycles it for agricultural use — about 55 percent of
the total water used for agriculture. Spain is second to Israel,
recycling 17 percent of its effluent, while the United States recycles
just 1 percent, according to Water Authority data.
February and March this year were the driest for the past 50 years
and overturned the country’s precipitation balance, which had looked
promising at the beginning of winter, Israel Water Authority and Israel
Meteorological Service figures show.
Last
month was one of the warmest Marches since climate measuring began in
Israel, with temperatures climbing 2-4 degrees higher than the
multi-year average for this month, the Meteorological Service said. The
meager rainfall was only 20-40 milliliters in the north, compared to a
multi-year average of 90-120 milliliters.
The rainfall in February was the lowest recorded in the past 70 years, with the exception of the winter of 1958.
However, the Water Authority said this winter’s rain quantity totaled 109 percent compared to the multi-year average.
In
the Kinneret area the rainfall was 114 percent compared to the
multi-year average, due to the rains that fell at the beginning of
winter and also raised the lake’s water level.
The Kinneret rose a meter and a half this winter, because there was so much rain in December and January, so maybe we'll at least stay above the red line this summer. But don't bring out your water fountains just yet.
Tel Aviv's Ayalon Freeway closed due to flooding for the first time since 1992
How much rain have we been having? The picture above is a more-or-less normal view of Tel Aviv's Ayalon Freeway during the winter. Note the train tracks on the left side of the picture. This view is heading northbound.
During our first winter here, in January 1992, there were three snowstorms in Jerusalem, and torrential rains in Tel Aviv and elsewhere. The Ayalon flooded each of those three times (and so many moronic Israeli drivers insisted on driving on it anyway that the insurance companies announced after the first storm that they would not cover anyone whose car was totaled due to flooding on the Ayalon that was already there when they got on the highway). I was commuting (by bus) from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv at the time....
During the summer of 1992, the government dredged the bottom of the Ayalon river (that's what runs down the middle of the highway) to make sure that we wouldn't have flooding on the highway again. And for 21 years, we haven't had flooding on the highway. Until now. Here's a video from a short while ago that was apparently taken in one of the train stations along the Ayalon.
Let's go to the videotape.
Yes, the Ayalon Freeway is closed because the Ayalon River (to the left of the train station - this is a southbound view) has gone over its banks, is threatening the train tracks and has gone onto the highway at far left.
The Highway's southbound and northbound lanes were closed to traffic
from the Glilot interchange just north of Tel Aviv to the south Tel Aviv
Kibbutz Galuyot interchange.
Southbound lanes on nearby Namir
road were also closed due to flooding, from Levinsky College of
Education to the Kibbutzim College. Police were instructing the public
to take alternative routes, such as Route 4, or to reach Tel Aviv only
in urgent cases. The closure of the Ayalon Highway caused heavy traffic
throughout central Tel Aviv.
...
Israel Railways announced on Tuesday morning that many stations are
closed due to flooding, including stations in Jerusalem - Lod and
Netanya blocks.
Israel Radio reported that there is a flood in Tel
Aviv Hagana Station, which is also closed. The public has been urged to
use the trains only in urgent cases,
Temperatures continued to
drop to colder than usual all over the country, according to Israel
Meteorological Services (IMS), with showers in the North and center of
the country with thunderstorms and very strong winds.
According to the IMS, it is unseasonably cold, with a strong risk of floods and flash flooding.
In
the afternoon the rain will spread to the South. By the evening, it
will be rainy and stormy in most of Israel, with snow over the high
peaks of the central mountains.
Lake Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee)
rose 22 centimeters within 24 hours, which is a new record for this
time period, Army Radio reported on Tuesday.
Snow continued to
fall over the Hermon, with 15 centimeters of snow piling up in the
area’s ski resort. The Mount Hermon manager told Army Radio on Tuesday
that he hopes the ski resort could open for visitors over the weekend.
...
On Wednesday, snow is expected to fall in the tops of mountains in
the north and center, including in Jerusalem and a chance of snow over
the Negev Mountain.
Continuing throughout the week, showers and
storms are expected in nearly all of Israel, along with extremely strong
winds. Tempertures will drop further as it becomes extremely cold.
Okay, they're exaggerating. The 'extremely cold' predictions I have seen for Jerusalem are 28-30 degrees Fahrenheit during the night Wednesday night, but with strong winds. And keep in mind that our buildings are mostly built from stone so they stay cool in the summer. While we have heat in the house, it's not very effective, and we have not yet turned it on (we probably will by tomorrow), preferring to add sweaters and to sleep under warm blankets instead. And yes, it's a fortune to run....
But what an awesome winter. And it's still early January.
Barring significant rain between now and Tuesday, which seems unlikely given this coming weekend's expected unseasonably warm temperatures, this month will go on record as the driest November in 83 years - which is as long as records have been kept. And it's not just this month.
With no significant rainfall thus far, the dire predictions regarding this winter have become a reality, the Water Authority said Thursday. With November nearing its end, Lake Kinneret will likely receive the least amount of water it has ever received since records started being kept in 1927.
No rain, the dryness and warm temperatures have increased the evaporation rates off the lake, such that it is losing about half a centimeter a day. It is already a meter below the bottom red line. The lake is also expected to break the record set in 2001 for least amount of drinking water available in the month of November.
After the driest November in the north in 48 years, it doesn't look like the situation will be getting any better next month either, the Water Authority said. Their forecasters fear the dry spell will continue into December and further lower the water levels in the aquifers and springs, in addition to Lake Kinneret.
The cabinet is set to discuss an emergency water plan to take the country through the next two years next Sunday. After seven years of little rainfall and no bumper years expected in the near future, the situation is expected to get worse before it gets better.
The situation will only begin to get better, the Water Authority believes, in 2013, when all of the desalination plants will be producing 600 million cubic meters of water a year. While that amount won't erase the deficit caused by seven or maybe even nine straight years of little rainfall, it is believed that it will eventually enable the stabilization of the situation. By taking the full burden of providing water away from Divine will, it should provide a buffer to enable the natural reservoirs to gradually replenish.
The situation would be considerably worse right now if three desalination plants weren't producing 300 million cubic meters of water a year already.
What they're not telling you here is that Israel is the World leader in desalination technology, but the government kept watching its technology leaders sell their wares to others instead of buying it themselves for years on end. Last year was the only year in the last seven that we exceeded the average annual rainfall, and we didn't exceed it by much. It wasn't enough.
And it gets worse. If - God forbid - Israel turns over control of Judea and Samaria's water resources to the 'Palestinians,' it will be turning over control of one billion cubic meters of water per year. By comparison, our entire residential consumption (which is still considered quite high for this region) is between 600 and 700 million cubic meters.
On Monday, we will have our second fast for rain this month. Things are getting desperate here.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
