The subcommittee of the Economy Committee for Water Supervision, headed by MK Zeev Elkin, convened today (Thursday) for its first meeting and discussed the challenges facing the water sector in Israel. In addition, the committee received an update on the progress of the negotiations between the Water Authority and the Ministry of Finance and the Local Government Center on the issue of regional association.
Water Authority Director Yehezkel Lifshitz presented an overview of Israel's water sector and said that it is considered one of the best in the world in terms of management, and includes about 1,500 suppliers and 56 corporations. In addition, Lifshitz noted that a quarter of the water in Israel comes from desalination and constitutes 70% of drinking water.
He also noted that the component in the price of water related to the production of desalinated water is about 20 percent of the cost. "We are striving for the cheapest price for the benefit of the citizens of the country," he said
Regarding the water tariff, Lifshitz said that the low rate has dropped from NIS 8.1 in 2010 to NIS 7.8 today. "If I compare it to other infrastructure economies, it is not certain that there are infrastructure economies where the price has fallen in nominal terms. Really, given the increase in the CPI, there is a dramatic decline here. The high tariff has indeed increased, but we added 3 desalination plants, since 2010 we have doubled investments in the national water sector, and we have increased investment in the municipal water sector."
Subcommittee Director MK Zeev Elkin, Photo: Noam Moshkovitz
Chairman Elkin wanted to know the expected change in the price of water for consumers in the future, and Lifshitz assessed that: "If there are no serious events, the expectation is that we will move with inflation. On the one hand, the amount of water and desalination is increasing and investments are increasing, and on the other hand, if we go with inflation, that's good.
"I don't want to commit, but the goal is to become more efficient all the time and not raise the price of water significantly. We are already in fourth place in the OECD in terms of the cheapest price for water. This is an amazing figure despite the investments and desalination."
On the other hand, Avshalom Whelan, secretary general of the Israel Farmers Association, said that the largest consumer of water in Israel is agriculture, that water for agriculture has become significantly more expensive, and that farmers cannot cope with it.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us