Last update - 00:00 27/01/2008
Cabinet to vote on emergency water conservation measures
By Avi Bar-Eli
A major public relations campaign to encourage water conservation; restrictions on watering parks and gardens; and increasing waste-water recycling are all part of an emergency water savings plan to be presented today to the cabinet for approval by the Minister of National Infrastructures, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer.
Another part of the proposed plan to respond to this year's drought is more cuts to water quotas for farmers, who will receive monetary compensation in coordination with the Agriculture Ministry.
The emergency plan is a result of the drought. Despite today's precipitation the rainfall is at only 65% of the annual average for the winter so far. The Lake Kinneret catchment area and the central mountain region have fared even worse, with less than 60% of the average rainfall for the season to date.
The National Water Carrier has been shut down since the beginning of January for maintenance, with no water being pumped out of the Sea of Galilee, but despite this the level has risen only six centimeters. It is now less than half a meter above the red line. The Water Authority has warned that even if the rest of the winter sees average rainfall, there will still be a water deficit for the winter of 300 million cubic meters for the entire national water system.
The Infrastructures Ministry and Water Authority estimate that emergency conservation measures will result in annual savings of 60 million cubic meters of water at best. The ministry claims that such steps are inadequate and that the only real solution is to accelerate construction and expansion of seawater desalinization plants.
The country's two desalinization plants in operation, in Ashkelon and in Palmahim, produce a total of 140 million cubic meters a year. Another plant is scheduled to open in Hadera in three years, with annual production capacity of 100 million to 110 million cu. meters.
Last July the cabinet voted to increase desalinization capacity to 505 million cu. meters annually by building two more plants and increasing production at the existing ones.
There have been several emergency water conservation plans in the past, for example in 1999-2001. These attempts reduced water use by between 5% and 10%.
In September 2005 the cabinet approved a five-year plan for water conservation. It included educational and informational programs, installation of water saving devices, increased recycling, reducing water lost in pipes and infrastructur, limits on gardens and increased enforcement of limits on water use. The budget for the plan, NIS 806 million over the five years, was only partly approved and the implementation of the water savings plan has only barely started.