BREAKING NEWS

Israel's North faces severe water shortages

After four consecutive years of drought and a remarkably dry February, the cumulative water volume of Lake Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee) and the Western Galilee reservoirs has dropped to its lowest in 100 years, the Water Authority announced on Monday.
 
Despite the fact that the Water Authority has almost completely ceased pumping water out of Lake Kinneret, the basin's water level fell to 213.16 meters below sea level on March 1, 16 centimeters below the "bottom red line" warning value. "The Kinneret level's location under the red line toward the end of the rainy season is an unusual situation that has not occurred in about a decade," a statement from the Water Authority said.  
Although building a desalination facility in the Western Galilee could help alleviate the situation, the Water Authority said that the region's residents are resisting having such a site in their backyard. "The northern region is suffering from shortages of water – shortages that are expected to worsen during the upcoming summer," the statement added.