Kinneret, 21.2.24/Photo: Union of Kinneret Cities
100 cm in total. Only one meter - that's exactly what is missing from a full Kinneret that we haven't seen in years, and as a "barometer of the national mood" - we need it this year more than ever. Today (
Thursday) the level of the Kinneret stands at -209.8 above the line The upper red line (which stands at -208.8), when the level is 3.2 meters higher than the lower red line (-213.00 meters)
, and the water authority is very satisfied. The crazy rain systems of January-February made up for the November-December which were quite dry, and in some areas of the country A 130 percent increase in the amount of rainfall has already been measured and we have exceeded the annual average of precipitation!
But with all our enthusiasm, Firas Talhami, director of the Kinneret and North Water Resources Conservation Division at the Water Authority, pours "water" on our enthusiasm and says that the water situation this year is indeed rare, but not unusual "There haven't been many years when at this time we were a meter above the upper red line, but what is special this year is the rate of the level's rise," he explains. "In the last four weeks, the rate surprised us and a lot of water came in after the winter started slowly and without high amounts of rain."
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The rate of increase of the level this year is simply amazing.
Measuring gauge of the Sea of Galilee in Nof Ginosar, yesterday/Reuven Castro
Kinneret level graph 2001-2024/screenshot, Kinneret Authority website
Snow's contribution: only 25 percent
Talhami adds that the water levels in the streams are still high for this season and the Kinneret level will continue to rise in the coming weeks.
"The amount of precipitation that fell in the feeding areas of the Banias and Dan streams will further contribute to the water supply in Jordan, and the Kinneret catchment basin in the Golan will also raise the level in the next ten days by another 30 cm."
And what about the heavy snow that has accumulated in Hermon? How does it affect the water supply
? That they went down in Hermon is good, and as soon as the snow melts - the amount that will reach the Sea of Galilee is only 25 percent because some will seep in and some will evaporate.
This is the contribution of the snow."
Do you think the Degania Dam will open this year, after it has not been opened since 1995?
"We increased pumping in the national carrier in order to reduce the sharp rate of rise of the level, because we prefer to use the natural water of the lake, which is cheap compared to desalinated water.
Also, in order for the dam to open, we need another 150-200 mm of rain in the north of the Golan Heights, and the accumulation that such an amount of rain will be received is 50 percent. We need another significant rain system and that is what will determine."
According to Talhami, if winter "collapses" now, the dam will not open, "but if we receive high amounts of precipitation at the beginning of March, then it is absolutely possible," he says.
So everything depends on the rain, and despite the pumping from the Kinneret, as well as the transfer of the water quota (which was doubled) to Jordan according to the peace agreements, what will dictate the opening of the dam is the chimneys of the sky, it is not known if they will be opened in March.
Let us recall here that not long ago, in 2019-20, the level of the Sea of Galilee was only 9 cm above the upper red line, which means we tickled the opening of the dam which did not happen.
"Some will seep in and some will evaporate."
The snowy Hermon yesterday - photo from Mount Avital area in the Golan/Reuven Castro
There are streams that have not flowed like this for years.
Nahal Zalmon which enters the Sea of Galilee in the area of Kibbutz Ginosar/Reuven Castro
"This is an exciting time with all the pain in the country"
"It's amazing, we look at the Kinneret every day and see with our own eyes the increase of the last few weeks," says Idan Greenbaum, head of the Jordan Valley Council and chairman of the Association of Kinneret Cities, which is responsible for arranging the beaches on the lake. "This is an exciting time with all the pain in the country , and we, the locals, have our own signs of the rising level: 'We'll see when the water reaches this point and when that point,' and the state of the Kinneret makes us especially happy now, when everything is green around and the eye is not satisfied with the sights, because we know what it will look like in August."
There are tourists or Israelis coming now to Kinneret?
"Last Shabbat we already saw many more travelers, and I estimate that this coming Shabbat - since the area around Kinneret is safe from a security point of view, there will be large amounts of Israelis.
Unfortunately for tourists, this is their pilgrim season - you won't find one or maybe a few pilgrims here."
What is the condition of the hotels around the lake?
"The hotels in Kinneret are full of evacuees from the north.
Only in my council there are about 4,000 evacuees, and in Tiberias there are three or four times that number."
"Last Saturday we already saw many more travelers."
Eagle Falls in the Golan, yesterday/Reuven Castro
"We know what it will look like in August."
Nahal HaZachi that flows water to the Sea of Galilee all year round/Reuven Castro
Season opens in April
The Association of Kinneret Cities is already preparing for the beginning of the tourist season, which will officially begin in April, and even hopes to break this year's visitor record of 3.5 million people per year on the association's Kinneret beaches.
What is expected for March-April and Passover this year?
Greenbaum: "We are preparing this year that there will be many more visitors to the Sea of Galilee, and the season will open earlier this year also because of the Muslim holidays. The big 'peak' will be on Passover - fewer will fly and people will look for a place to vacation during the Holy Week, and we may even break the record on the beaches of the Union of Sea of Galilee , if the security situation will be good. From our point of view, the rise in water level is an excellent thing because the shores of the Kinneret are not like the Mediterranean Sea, and there are years when the water recedes from the beach itself, and when the Kinneret fills up, it makes the stay more pleasant and closer to the shade and the beach complexes, and you don't have to go to the water for a long time. And we continue preparations for the season and want to start the season in April with a full Kinneret, and this is a decision of the water authority, which needs to make sure that the Kinneret does not exceed its size and, on the other hand, that the authority does not pump too much to lower it."
Do you think the Degania Dam will open this year?
"What the experts explained to me is that right now if there isn't some dramatic system then it won't open, but if there is a significant system during March - it's something else and everything is open."
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Expect to break the visitor record this year at the beaches.
A tourist boat in the Sea of Galilee/Reuven Castro
"This year we broke a record of a decade"
So yes, it's a wonderful year for nature, for our water reservoirs and for the Sea of Galilee, which fills up every second.
In fact, the Jordan, which is the main artery of the Sea of Galilee, brought in an enormous amount of water in one day that is difficult to understand: 104 cubic meters per second (104 thousand liters per second), while all the other streams are 85 cubic meters per second.
"This year we also broke a decade's record," says Talhami, "an increase of 15 cm per day that resulted from that great day of the Jordan."
Is there an estimate of how high the Sea of Galilee will reach this year?
Talhami: "We will remain tense until the 90th minute, and it depends on the amount The planned pumping in March-April, but we will be quite close to the upper red line, a few cm."
So we'll have to wait and pray for another heavy bout or two of rain in the near future.
Even so, we pray these days that dams, barriers and restrictions will be opened.
One more prayer wouldn't hurt.
In the meantime, receive a selection of great photos recorded yesterday in the Sea of Galilee and the surrounding area by our in-house photographer, Reuven Castro.
North Kinneret in the Amnon/Reuven Castro area
A tourist boat in the Sea of Galilee.
Will they return and when?/Reuven Castro
A water measuring meter in the Sea of Galilee in the Nahal HaZachi area/Reuven Castro
Nahal Daliot on its way to the Sea of Galilee.
When it spills, the Majestic Reserve/Reuven Castro begins
Another look at varicose veins because it's not enough for us/Reuven Castro
A minefield in the Golan/Reuven Castro
The raging Zack/Reuven Castro
Nahal Zalmon spills into the Sea of Galilee/Reuven Castro
The vegetation of the Sea of Galilee is covered with water, even the trees in it/Reuven Castro
The Sea of Galilee in a view of Ginoser/Reuven Castro
Wind turbines at the foot of the Golan.
Hermon in the background/Reuven Castro
Eagle Falls.
Waterfalls and streams in the Golan also play an important role in raising the lake level/Reuven Castro
The Jordan in the area of Gesher Arik north of Kinneret/Reuven Castro
This year, flow 104 cubic meters of water per second in one day.
The Jordan yesterday/Reuven Castro
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