Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan questions the wisdom of the Water
Authority’s new PR campaign, in a letter sent earlier this week to National
Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau and Water Authority head Prof. Uri Shani,
his ministry revealed on Wednesday.
Erdan wrote that he recently became
aware of the campaign and its message that conservation was only necessary for
another three years.
Such a tack was not in line with “sustainable”
living, which “is not a rude word for times of crisis only, but a way of life
that takes into account natural resources and does not destroy them,” the
minister wrote.
The campaign features the same actress as last year’s
effort, once again with her face hideously drying out.
This time, as she
stops drying out, she says that in three years the water crisis will be
over.
Erdan expressed concern that the message was that conservation was
necessary for the next three years only, and then, when all the desalination
plants are up and running, the public can waste as much water as it
wants.
Erdan stressed that water conservation should be emphasized all
the time.
The Water Authority responded: “Environmental Protection
Minister Gilad Erdan is bursting through an open door.
“The Water
Authority has invested and will continue to invest in education and PR campaigns
about wise use of water all the time. Since the middle of 2008, a campaign has
been running along the same lines that the minister presented, under the banner
‘Israel is drying out.’ “And in fact, the Israeli public reduced its water
consumption by 20 percent.
“During the current PR campaign, the Water
Authority is continuing the exact same message and is continuing to ask
the
public to conserve. At the same time, the Water Authority sees as its
responsibility to report to the public what steps it is taking in
parallel to
the public’s efforts to conserve water: erecting essential desalination
plants
that will be completed within three years and will remove the danger of
Lake
Kinneret drying up; rehabilitating polluted wells; drilling new wells;
increased
pumping; and more,” the Authority said.
“The campaign does not permit the
destruction [of the Kinneret], but rather reflects to the public the
situation
of the water economy and even specifically points out: In three years
‘the
Kinneret will emerge from the danger of drying out,’ but until then, and
after
then, the public must continue to conserve,” the response read.
Landau
reiterated his ministry’s and the Water Authority’s commitment to
encouraging
conservation, but also stressed their responsibility for full disclosure
to the
public regarding the end to the water crisis in three years. He said the
goal
was to have water not only for the public but also for agriculture,
which was a
Zionist and environmental ideal.