By Amiram Cohen, Ha'aret, Correspondent
Water
Commissioner Shimon Tal ordered Thursday that all relevant bodies dealing with
Lake Kinneret prepare for the possibility that the water level will drop to -216m,
three meters below the lake's red line. The existing red line - decided on last
year - currently stands at 213m below sea level.
Tal stated that his prediction
would definitely be realized by the fall of 2001.
In anticipation of this,
a pumping station is to be established on the southern shores of the lake, to
ensure that Israel is able to continue supplying water to Jordan as well as to
Israeli towns in the Jordan Valley. Police were ordered to vacate a police boat
marina in the area in order to make room for the station.
The president
of the sea and lake research institute, Dr. Yuval Cohen, said that he was surprised
by the announcement, adding that the decision that had been reached, to gradually
reduce the level to -214.5m, would have allowed water to be drawn without damaging
the quality. If the level drops below, however, it will effect the water quality.
There are already worrying signs that the lake's ecological balance has been damaged. |
