Cry for Help: The Shortage of Water

Israel's Slogan: " Don't Waste a drop"

   The need for water technology in Israel is vital to guarantee a stable lifestyle for every citizen of Israel and giving them the quality of life they deserve. Israel has long suffered from water shortages; however due to four consecutive years of drought the situation has escalated into a crisis. The demand of water in Israel has increased over the past years due to increase in population and the increasing need of water for irrigation and domestic uses. The water crisis in Israel is dire; for that reason, the government must develop a plan to conduct institutional and operational changes to stabilize the water shortage to ensure Israel's long term existence. 

"I can promise that if there is not sufficient water in our region, if there is scarcity of water, if people remain thirsty for water, then we shall doubtless face war." by Meir Ben Meir, Former Israeli Water Commissioner

     Conventional Water Resources

Israel's annual renewable water amounts to some 1,800 MCM. And, 95%  of the water is used for irrigation and domestic uses. Israel gets 80% of its water from the north and the remaining 20% from the south. Israel's main water resources are: Lake Kinneret, the Coastal Aquifer, and the Mountain Aquifer. They also obtain water from the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea Rift, and the Western Galilee.

Picture 1

Lake Kinneret

Water Conservation and Quality

Water conservation is Israel's only hope for survival other then technological advancements. Israel has been educating people the importance of water preservation. In hopes of doing so Israel has mandated a wide scale low volume irrigation system and automation has increased the average efficiency to 90% as compared to 64% for furrow irrigation.  Due, to the new invention of "drip irrigation" land requirements have dropped from 8, 700 cum/ha to 5, 500 cum/ha.

The quality of water in Israel is an important issue as the water scarcity. Israel's water varies from very low salinity water  (10mg/l of chlorides) from the Jordan River to Lake Kinneret (200 mg/l). It is very important to prevent seawater intrusion to the Coastal Aquifer and movement of saline water bodies. Also, what is alarming is the increasing of pollutants from human activity above the aquifers. Due to the unbalanced exploitation and return flow from irrigation salinity has increased in many wells leaving the water quality for Israelis to be very low. Hence, Israel is in a move to apply technology to the water resources in an attempt to halt the increase of salinity and pollution in the water.

Picture 2

Hula Valley

Water Management Policy

Picture 3

The Water Law of 1959 establishes a set of guidelines to illustrate to Israelis that water is not in abundance; hence this law is to control and protect Israel's water resources. The law states that water resources are public property and regulating water resources exploitation and allocation, as well as polluting the water resources. Water consumption is now governed by the Water Commission.

The Water Commission has set certain regulations such as:

• Prohibitions on the rinsing of containers, used for spraying of chemical and biological substances, into water sources;
• Restrictions on the use of cesspools and septic tanks; conditions for the establishment and operation of gas stations to prevent fuel leaks;
• Requirements for evaporation ponds and reservoirs;
• Regulations on the reduction of salt use in industrial water-softening processes and on the discharge of brines; (The Water Law of 1971)

    Other laws Israel has passed to preserve water and ensure its quality is:

The Public Health Ordinance in 1981 states guidelines required for wastewater, and lists crops which are suitable for irrigation with certain water levels. 

The Local Authorities Sewage Law of 1962: is a law that mandates the government and local authorities to construct and maintain efficient sewage drains. Each system must be up to certain regulation standards.

The Streams and Springs Authorities Law, 1965, : empowers the Minister of the Environment to appoint local officials as legal authorities for lakes, streams, and any water resource that Israel sees necessary. Under this law autority figures for Yarkon and Kishon rivers have been appointed. 

    Picture 4                   Picture 5

    Israel needs to preserve water because in the Middle East water is a necessity for survival for the Israelis and the Arabs. Water, has always been a problem in Israel but the people see it as something more. Water has evolved into more then a necessity but part of each Israelis life from customs to every day actions. 5