Mekorot faces a major challenge in ensuring a regular supply of water throughout the year, notwithstanding a limited rainy season that usually extends for only four or five months during the year.
Mekorot invests considerable efforts in exploiting floodwaters for various purposes, depending upon their quality and the current water balance.
To avoid floodwaters from flowing into the Sea or other basins where they will be lost, Mekorot builds and operates catchments for the effective exploitation of floodwaters.
One example is the company’s facility at the Shikma River, south of the City of Ashkelon, which can store up to 6,000,000 cubic meters of rainwater.
One of the main challenges related to the company’s floodwater catchment activities is the infrequency of rain and flashfloods in Israel’s arid south.
Since construction of large catchment areas for only brief periods of intense rainfall is economically unfeasible, the company has pioneered the practice of storing floodwaters in natural aquifers whose storage capacities are almost unlimited.
Seepage of rainwater into aquifers also enriches groundwater since the quality of floodwaters can be better than that of groundwater. Seepage through the earth also acts as a natural filter for floodwaters.
Rainfall is also directed to reservoirs and fed into the National Water System.