11 Heshvan 5770
29 October 2009
Mekorot National Water Company Report
12% probability that the Kinneret Black Line will be exceeded by the end of 2010
Emergency drilling by Mekorot has prevented reaching the Black Line until now
Mekorot National Water Company has published a report on its expectations for the Kinneret drainage basin
There is a 12% probability that the Kinneret Black Line (214.87 meters below sea level) will be crossed some time in the coming year. Mekorot is carrying out an emergency drilling plan to boost the fresh water available for the country by 70 million cubic meters, and reduced pumping of water from the Kinneret at mid-year, which has prevented reaching the Black Line until now.
All the water sources that drain into the Kinneret are considered its drainage basin. The basin area is 2,730 square kilometers, of which only about 6% of it comes from the Kinneret itself. The southern and eastern borders of the basin are the Yarmuch basin and the Rokad tributaries, the western border is Mount Meron and Mount Naftali, and the northern border is the Litani drainage basin.
Winter characteristics
• The 2008-09 winter had one fairly wet month at the beginning of the rainy season, in October 2008, and again in February 2009 (with 150-200% of the multiyear average). November and January were arid months, with less than 35% of the multiyear average. March had close to the multiyear average of precipitation.
• Summary of the winter – the cumulative precipitation compared with the multiyear average was 79% in the drainage basin and 94% around the Kinneret. The annual quantities of precipitation recorded at the Kfar Giladi station and the direct rainfall onto the Kinneret were 594 mm and 372 mm, respectively.
• Analysis of historic data of daily rainfall at Kfar Giladi (from 1930 until the present) indicates a clear decline in the average precipitation by about 6 mm a year. No clear decline was seen in the precipitation or in its homogeneity at other stations in the Kinneret drainage basin.
• Little precipitation fell at all the sub-basins of the Kinneret drainage basin. Relatively less precipitation fell in the Upper Jordan drainage basin than directly on the Kinneret, something that is definitely not common.
• During the 2008-09 winter season, 208 million cubic meters of available water was obtained. This quantity amounts to approximately 61% of the multiyear median value of 340 million cubic meters over the preceding 35 years.
Kinneret water level
• Pumping of water from the Kinneret to the National Water Carrier totaled 44 million cubic meters between November 2008 and April 2009, compared with 79 million cubic meters in the corresponding period a year earlier. The reduced level of pumping was achieved thanks to Mekorot’s emergency “Drought Drilling” program to pump water from the aquifers.
• The Kinneret water level rose late last year, compared with the preceding years. The dramatic precipitation events in late February 2009 drove the rise in the water level.
• During the 2008-09 winter season, the water level rose by 117 centimeters. This rise was double the rise in the preceding 2007-08 winter season, but two and four times less than the corresponding rises in the 2003-04 and 2002-03 winter seasons, respectively.
• At the end of 2009, the Kinneret water level will be 214.50 meters below sea level, on the basis of the annual pumping plan of 137 million cubic meters of water, but will probably not fall below that level. If the upcoming rainy season is delayed and December is arid, this level will be crossed, but no problem is expected in pumping water to the National Water Carrier, since the amount of water planned to be pumped in this month is already low.
• On the basis of the plan to pump 147 million cubic meters to the National Water Carrier, the probability of exceeding the Kinneret Black Line (the level below which it is not possible to pump water from the Kinneret, i.e. 214.87 meters below sea level) in the coming year is 0.12. The probability of exceeding the Black Line, at which point it is not possible to pump water from the Kinneret, by the end of 2010 is 0.38.
Avoiding reaching the Black Line – the emergency drilling program and reduced pumping from the Kinneret
Mekorot reduced the pumping of water from the Kinneret basin at mid-year. This reduction in pumping was made possible, among other factors, by the company’s emergency “Drought Drilling” program, which is focused on 39 new sites, mostly in northern Israel. These are new wells at new sites found and tested by Mekorot during the past year, which enable the addition of more than 70 million cubic meters of fresh water to the water economy.
In 2010, Mekorot plans to intensify this emergency program. Mekorot is also applying many wells, and expanding the Lahat and Granot brackish water desalination plants on a tighter schedule. This program is in addition to the Ashdod seawater desalination plan that Mekorot will build over the next two years.
Mekorot CEO Ido Rosolio said, “We are acting on the assumption that this winter will have little precipitation, and we are working hard on the company’s emergency plan so that there will be no water shortage next year.”
For further information: Hila Izhak, Mekorot Spokeswoman, 03-6230705.