Sea of Galilee sinks to record low as drought dries up Israel’s natural water sources

Israel's water production is nothing short of miraculous. As a desert nation with an arid climate, there are parts of Israel (particularly in the South) that see less than 100mm of rain annually. Yet despite this, the people of Israel thrive. 

For many years, this was due to careful conservation and water management. Large public efforts to reduce water waste and raise awareness about the value of the precious resource and the collective responsibility to safeguard it. There was a time when practically every TV news broadcast ended with an update on the water level in the Sea of Galilee. 

However, those days are gone. Over the the past decade, technology has replaced conservation as the driving force behind Israel's aquatic abundance. 

Israel leads the world in water purification technology. Several of the most important water-related innovations over the past 60 years have originated either in Israel, or from Israeli minds. Perhaps the greatest triumph of these efforts are the massive water desalination plants that now provide around 70% of the nation's potable water. 

These five facilities located throughout the country are capable of taking millions upon millions of gallons of salt water per day and converting it into potable drinking water. The plants have become so effective and efficient, they've put an end to the entire idea of scarcity of drinking and agricultural water in the nation. Israel no longer suffers from a the near calamitously low levels of drinking water the old PSAs warned about,  but in fact enjoys a surplus, the evidence of which you can see in the land itself. Israel is the only desert nation in the world where the desert is actually receding in the face of expanding agriculture. 

This is fantastic news for the people living and working in Israel, but it comes with one major caveat – the desalination plants only provide water for the people. The natural resources of Israel are at as much risk due to drought then ever before. Only now, the people are not aware of the issue.

This is the concern being voiced by Israel's Water Authority who are now planning a 2018 revival of those old public knowledge campaigns. To make people aware of the growing natural crisis that threatens to dry up Israel's natural sources of water. As the Sea of Galilee recedes to record lows, there is a desperate sense of urgency to return to the cautious conservation of yesteryear.

The drought of the past year has not been kind to Israel’s natural water sources. Northern Israel, usually the part of the country that can depend on regular rainfall, has a deficit of 2.5 billion cubic liters of water when compared to average years. This water is what normally supplies the streams and underground aquifers that supply the Sea of Galilee. If the winter season is similarly unkind, there is a high risk that these sources will dry up completely, depriving the Sea and leading to irreparable harm. 

The Sea of Galilee is of course a resource of tremendous environmental and cultural significance, which by itself should be enough to justify widespread attempts to save it. However, the Sea also poses an important security issue for Israel as well. While the desalination plants provide the vast majority of the water to the nation, any disruptions in their production (such as a natural disaster, malfunction, or attack), and the country is left literally high and dry. The Sea of Galilee is the only freshwater source that exists in the nation without the need for outside resources or heavy processing. 

The challenge now facing the Water Authority is re-energizing the public on the value of conservation in a world where scarcity no longer immediately effects them. There needs to be a widespread recognition that no country, no matter how water-rich, can afford to take it for granted. 

It's a lesson those of us in the West should also take to heart. There is no guarantee that the abundance we enjoy today will be there tomorrow, and it is up to all of us to do what we can to act as good stewards of the gifts God has given us.