Talks on reorganizing the system for water acquisition and price fell short on Thursday, as an interministerial meeting failed to settle on final recommendations. The committee had been expected to recommend closing water corporations, appointing a government committee to manage water, and reducing prices 9 percent beyond the 10% cut expected in January. “The model that will be agreed upon will have to be one that will bring down the water prices and build a mechanism for supervising the price of water,” said MK Miri Regev, who heads the Knesset Interior Committee. “We have to decide on a model to manage water efficiently that will remove the heavy burdens from the public.” Haim Bibas, the chairman of the Local Authorities Union and mayor of Modi'in-Maccabim- Re'ut said the goal was to bring down the price of water at least another 10%. The 55 water corporations were set up 14 years ago under a government authority, and the committee to examine their efficiency was created six months ago by then-finance minister Yair Lapid and Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom. Whatever recommendations are finally agreed upon, the Knesset will have to approve them, meaning they are unlikely to go forward until after the March 17 elections.
