More rain fell this past winter than in the previous season, but the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) is more than eight inches lower than it was at the same in 2006.
The apparent contradiction resulted from the timing of the rains this year, which came in three large deluges, one of them following a record drought in December. Instead of occasional rains that normally irrigate fields, the drought forced farmers to turn on the sprinklers, which caused the Kinneret to drop.
The lake now lacks more than 2.2 meters and the normal decline of another two meters in the summer will leave water authorities hoping for an unusually wet winter in six months.
The apparent contradiction resulted from the timing of the rains this year, which came in three large deluges, one of them following a record drought in December. Instead of occasional rains that normally irrigate fields, the drought forced farmers to turn on the sprinklers, which caused the Kinneret to drop.
The lake now lacks more than 2.2 meters and the normal decline of another two meters in the summer will leave water authorities hoping for an unusually wet winter in six months.