Israel is Dehydrating

Surprise, surprise, Israel is dehydrating. Every summer the news get worse, the level of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), Israel's main water source, get lower. Underground aquifers are drying up, there's no rain in summer, and recent winters have been dry. The government has contemplated some elaborate plans (desalination plants, shipping water in from Turkey, even dragging over an iceberg from the arctic circle), but in true Israeli fashion anything that takes more than four years, the maximum any recent government has managed to stay in office, is shelved. Budgets, the latest one passed early this week, always get used for the current emergency.

But the drying up of Israel continues. The Kinneret is a shadow of its former self. You need a bus ride to get from the "water-side" hotels to swim in the Dead Sea. So the Department of Water decided to spend their tiny budget on a campaign to heighten public awareness of the issue. There are TV ads, and radio ads (all in Hebrew, I'm afraid). They explain that watering your lawn 5 minutes less saves 200 liters, showering 2 min less saves 40 liters and fixing a dripping facet can save 60 liters a day.

All this is well and good, but the real problem lies elsewhere. Agriculture in this desert requires huge water resources, plus water for farming is subsidized and therefore cheap. In light of all this I was struck by a perfect 80% moment yesterday. It appears the city governments of Tel Aviv, Raanana, and Petach Tikva are the biggest wasters of water in the country (sorry this article is also in Hebrew). Inspectors from the Department of Water found numerous violations of the new water code that went into effect at the beginning of the week. This code forbids local authorities from planting new grass anywhere. The city of Tel Aviv was caught planting grass along Eben Gvirol, just outside City Hall on Monday. While Raanana and Petach Tikva were caught violating the public watering code seven and nine time respectively. A spokesman for the Raanana municipality claimed that Raanana has received prizes for its "greenness", takes water conservation seriously. Petach Tikva claims its one of five standout cities in water conservation. We believe them all.

Israel is drying up and all our local authorities can do is give each other prizes for how environmental they are.