Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee)
Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee)Israel news photo

The outgoing director of the Israel Water Authority has some good, though not undisputed, news for Israelis on the eve of his departure from the post. Israel's water crisis, says Professor Uri Shani, is over.

“I can say, with caution, that the water crisis has ended,” Shani told Channel 2 in an interview Tuesday. “The water savings by Israelis in recent months, together with the important addition to the water economy of rainfall this winter, has brought us to the point where we are no longer facing a water crisis.”

Practically speaking, Shani said, the end of the crisis means that the state no longer faces the problem of supplying water for the needs of citizens and business – a problem that, until recently, was a very real one for the officials responsible for water distribution, even if most Israelis were not aware of it.

Others: Not Quite
Responding to Shani's comments, a senior Water Authority official said Tuesday night that “the outgoing director has a right to his opinion, but the water crisis faced by Israel in recent years is far from over. Israelis must continue to save water. We cannot permit any sector – agriculture, industry, or and especially the household sector – to the levels of water use that were common in the past.”

In the interview, Shani said that despite the improvement in the country's water situation, Israelis should not expect water prices to go down. “Water is expensive, and that is the situation,” he said. “One of the major components of the solution to the water crisis has been the increased use of desalinated water, which is a major component of the water economy today. One thing we have learned from the crisis is that water is valuable, and it cannot be wasted. We have no choice but to save water, since we live in the desert.”