Picture of the week – first rains

September 23, 2009 - 7:44 AM by Nicky · 1 Comment
Filed under: Picture of the Week 

Jerusalem, Rosh hashana. Two months of rain fall in just two days.

Jerusalem, Rosh hashana 2009. Two months of rain fall in just two days.


Israel was surprised this week by unusually heavy first rains. Accustomed to short, light showers that kick off the winter season, Israel got a soaking instead.

The storms over the Rosh Hashana holiday, brought in by a band of cold weather from Turkey and the Black sea, actually set a new rainfall record – what fell in just two days equaled the average total for both September and October, according to the Water Authority.

The storms were greeted with much pleasure. With five drought years behind us, Israelis are resorting to increasingly creative ways to reuse gray water and conserve fresh water (from short showers to inventive flushing systems for the loo) in the wake of the worst drought in Israel’s history.

In Kfar Saba, for instance, the municipality is now introducing a new biofilter that will clean urban rain water runoff to recharge old and out of service water wells. It’s a pilot project in the country’s first environmentally friendly urban housing project. Watch out for the story in the coming weeks in ISRAEL21c .

As far as rainfall goes, we now have to wait and see what comes next. As we enter an El Nino year, some people are anticipating a wet winter as rainfall patterns across the world respond to the warmer seas.

The Water Authority is warning us not to get too excited, however. In a recent
Jpost article, Water Authority spokesman, Uri Schor announced that El Nino could also cause an even more severe drought year than the last five.

“We’re on the rim of the El Nino effect and no one knows what it will bring. It could conceivably bring a lot of rain, but it could also bring about a severe drought year. It’s clear what we’re all hoping for,” he said.

Given that the last time we had a rainy winter, the Israeli government slowed work on its desalination projects, setting us back several years, it’s probably not surprising he’s so cautious.

For most Israelis, however, this sudden unexpected downfall was a welcome diversion from the heat, and a chance to enjoy that fresh, clean scent that follows the rain.

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Nostalgia Sunday – Mekorot’s water portfolio

April 19, 2009 - 8:02 PM by Rachel Neiman · 1 Comment
Filed under: Environment, General, History and Culture, Nostalgia Sunday 

To celebrate Tel Aviv’s Centennial anniversary, Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, has dug into its photo archive and released images from the construction of the Tel Aviv water pipeline project. Check out the kovaei tembel, the soft cloth hats that once symbolized the Israeli pioneer worker.

mekorot_1963

These images are from 1963. The original Western Pipeline – Yarkon-Negev Plant pipeline was completed in 1955 but as Tel Aviv’s population grew, along with demand for water, it was decided to add the additional Dan pipeline to boost the water supply. The project was completed in the mid-60s.

mekorot_24-10-1963_2

Today, Mekorot is considered one of the world’s most technologically advanced water companies and a world leader in desalination, water reclamation, water project engineering, water safety, water security and water quality. Its all-important task is formulating and implementing the country’s national water policy.

mekorot_24-10-1963

Over the past 12 months, Mekorot has embarked on a number of major projects, including the construction of a fifth pipeline to Jerusalem…

mekorot_today

…construction of the desalination facility in Ashdod with a capacity of 100 million cubic meters a year and linking of the desalination facilities along the coastline — such as the world’s largest such plant at Ashkelon, pictured here — with the national water system…

ashkelon_desalination_plant_med

…plus other projects aimed at increasing the supply of water, for example, cloud seeding in the winter months. Mekorot has engaged in “rain-enhancement” for over 45 years and has managed to increase the annual rainfall in the Sea of Galilee catchment by 13%-18%.

mekorot_cloud_seeding1

Mekorot facilities have visitors centers with guided tours. As for the archive, it isn’t presently online but give them time. And, given their technological edge, it will be amazing to think of what pictures Mekorot will release when Tel Aviv’s 200th rolls along.

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In need of rain? Ask a government minister

January 27, 2009 - 3:26 PM by Nicky · 1 Comment
Filed under: Environment, General, Israeliness, Life, Religion 

I feel like a fish that has been left out of water too long. I’m literally gasping for rain. Being one of those foreign transplants from grey, rainy Britain, Israel’s warm climate is a frequent source of joy. But while I enjoy the heat and the sunshine, I still need the storms and rain of winter to help me get through the long, hot, barren, endlessly blue and sunny summers where I seem to suffer a kind of reverse seasonal affect disorder.

Oh for a good heavy rainstorm...

Oh for a good heavy rainstorm...


This year I’m not the only one. Even the most hardened Israeli sun-lovers, who normally complain of depression after just one day of rain, are protesting. And with reason. It’s been the driest January since Israeli records began, and it comes after four other exceptionally dry years.
From 1980 to 2007, the available volume of water in Lake Kinneret was 328 million cubic meters a year. This year it will be just 45 million cubic meters. Prof. Uri Shani, head of the Water Authority said the probability of Israel having such a dry winter, after a series of four dry years, was practically zero – but when did probability enter into global warming.
There are all sorts of plans afoot on how to deal with this water crisis – plans which quite frankly should have been put in place a year or two ago, but possibly the most kooky of the lot comes from Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon, who has come up with the idea of changing all the mezuzot in the Israel Water Authority offices.
Under Jewish tradition, a mezuzah is a piece of parchment inscribed with specific Hebrew verses from the Torah, which is put inside a special case and attached to doorframes as a kind of blessing. Some people like to kiss their hand and touch the case as they go in and out of the building, for good luck.
Simhon’s big plan, then, is to change the blessings inside these mezuzot in an effort to change Israel’s luck with rainfall patterns. The minister explained his logic by telling other ministers that when Labor was at an all-time low in the polls, he changed the mezuzot at the Labor House, and the party doubled its strength.
Good to know the water crisis is in capable hands, eh? Perhaps we should also consider bringing a tribe of native Indians across to do a rainfall dance. Of course water rationing, and a desalination plant or two might also help. But hell, what would I know, I’m not a government minister.

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