Water Shortages Part of Life in Israel, Conservation Tactics Questionable

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL -- Residents in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem say they were surprised last month when volunteers from the Israeli Water Authority, IWA, knocked on their doors and offered to install free water-saving appliances.

The appliance distribution program is the most aggressive water conservation effort the IWA has made in addressing Israel’s chronic water shortage in recent years. Though the effort has been successful, with 100,000 appliances distributed in the first month of implementation, many Israeli citizens are still unaware of the program’s existence. Eitan Levy, a Yeshiva student in Jerusalem in his late 20s, is just one of many who say they have no knowledge of the program’s existence.

For the last four years, Israel has faced a chronic water shortage that has been exacerbated by rapid population growth and reduced rainfall. Prior to the drought, the average rainfall for the Sea of Galilee remained consistent at roughly 20 inches per year. In 2009, annual rainfall dropped 20 percent. To complicate matters, the flow of the Jordan River has decreased by nearly 90 percent since 1948, making water an even scarcer commodity.

Today, conservation advocates say an increase in population coupled with a lack of conservation efforts by many young Israelis has made this drought the worst they have seen in recent decades. But bureaucratic delays and inconsistent efforts to educate and employ conservation programs are likely to blame for the worsening drought conditions. And while short-term programs have yielded minimal results, a long-term plan to desalinate the Mediterranean Sea may offer increased access to drinking water. In the meantime, the costs of monthly water bills have more than doubled and local authorities are being criticized for their minimal efforts thus far.

Younger Generation Lacks Conservation Consciousness, Media Campaigns are Controversial Solution

While there have been minor droughts in the region in the past, “the population was much smaller, the demand for water was much smaller, and therefore we managed to slide over the droughts in the past with very little noise,” says Saul Arlosoroff, chairman of the Economics Department at Mekorot, the national water company of Israel. 

“In the past there used to be a general consciousness that one must be careful about the amount of water they consume,” adds Levy. “The current generation, however, is not as conscious as the older generation.” He attributes this phenomenon to the dramatic increase in wealth of the average Israeli citizen in the past 30 years and the gradual shift toward a more American lifestyle.

To educate the younger generation about their water consumption, the IWA launched a series of ongoing public relations campaigns beginning in 2008. Uri Schor, spokesperson for the IWA, says he hopes for the campaign will continue indefinitely. “[In] this area you must try to teach people how to use water wisely without wasting it. From 2008 until today we managed to cut down household [use] by 20 percent. And this you can’t do by sitting and doing nothing,” he says.

In addition to the national conservation effort public relations campaign, the appliance distribution program—which has been popular in other countries, including the United States—has distributed thousands of water-saving appliances to households in just over two months.

While the distribution program was slated to start more than a year ago, Schor says bureaucratic challenges delayed implementation until this August. He adds that the IWA has been selling water-saving devices since 2000.

Arlosoroff attributes IWA’s delay in launching this component of the overall conservation effort to bureaucratic issues, too. Mekorot would have preferred to have implemented the appliance program years ago, but he says the IWA would not allow Mekorot to be involved in the project.

Schor says he is familiar with Arlosoroff’s criticism, but believes the distribution of devices must come from the government since the program involves dozens of volunteers whose efforts must be coordinated.

While the IWA’s appliance program has been successful, Arlosoroff describes other conservation efforts, particularly the public relations campaign, by the IWA as lackluster. He says there must be a focus on short-term conservation as well as long-term goals.

One IWA conservation advertisement on television depicts Renna Raz, an Israeli actress, with flawless skin that dehydrates and cracks. As her skin deteriorates, she says that Israel must conserve water in Lake Kinneret, especially during the next three years.

The IWA recruited Raz to explain that desalination tactics will soon be employed. In three years, Raz tells viewers, water will be widely available thanks to desalination plants—which filter and process seawater into drinkable water. The ad ends as Raz’ skin returns to normal and she asks the population to limit their water consumption over the next three years.

While Schor says these ads have been a great success, they have also incurred criticism from Environmental Protection Minster Gilad Erdan, who has publicly criticized the IWA for producing ads not in line with sustainable living.

Many residents also say IWA conservation efforts are questionable and minimal. Schor says as part of the conservation effort, the IWA prints conservation methods on the back of water bills. However, Levy and Jerusalem resident and sculptor Joe Holiday, age 48, both say they have never received a water bill with conservation tips on the back.

 “The information is here and there. It is not on every [bill],” Schor later admitted.

Population Outraged as Water Costs Skyrocket

“Last year, our water bill during this period of the year [was] 120 to 140 shekels for two months. Today it is about 300 shekels for two months, so it is almost a 100 percent increase,” says Arlosoroff.

The price increases, which began in 2008, have angered many with some families reporting a jump of as much as 300 percent.

In addition to price increases, the IWA can impose stricter emergency measures at any time including prohibiting the watering of lawns, decreasing water allocation to farmers, increasing enforcement and sanctions, and even shutting off the water supply for hours or days at a time, as is common in neighboring Palestine.

But Schor says they do not see the need to implement more stringent measures — particularly sanctions — because their public campaigns to conserve have been deemed successful. He says Israel is already enacting “emergency measures” in the form of disseminating water-saving appliances and educational information.

“Every year they say emergency measures will be imposed, yet they never do,” says Levy. “It may be better to implement them for a month. However, that is one of the inherent problems in a democratic system. The politicians don’t want to upset the voting base.”

Arlosoroff says he foresees a bleak future for Israelis over the next five years if the drought persists. “What keeps me awake at night?” he asks. “The next five years. We are in trouble.”