Wednesday, August 30, 2000 6:42

Water situation critical

(IsraelWire-8/30) Water Commissioner Shimon Tal on Tuesday stated the water levels of Israels aquifers have reached unprecedented low levels and there is real reason for concern. The Kinneret on Tuesday measured at 213.29, the lowest level ever recorded for the aquifer supplying about one-third of the nations water.

Tal added that while most suggestions and decisions concerning solutions are correct and headed in the correct direction, none of the proposals brings an instant solution to the most serious problem. The present level of the Kinneret is dangerously close to the water becoming salinated, rendering the Kinneret unfit for providing our drinking water in the future. Experts explain that if the water level is permitted to drop too low, the water beneath with flip to the top, contaminating the body of water, a process that experts believe would be irreversible.

Former Minister of Agriculture Haim Oron added that it was essential that Israelis drastically reduce their water consumption (waste), adding that placing the burden on the shoulder of farmers alone would not bring the necessary results. Oron stated that Israeli must cut their water consumption by as much as seventy percent, quickly adding the increasing the price of water will not do the trick. He explained the average person will not calculate the cost of water when he/she takes a shower. The true response will be seen he added when Israelis are educated to become increasingly water conscious.

http://www.israelwire.com/New/000830/0008307.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), August 30, 2000