Heavy Weekend Rains Raise Kinneret Water Level by Half a Foot
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A view of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee)
Photo Credit: israeltraveler.org
The Kinneret, Israel’s Sea of Galilee, has long been a steady source of concern for locals, with the need for water for drinking and agriculture scoring the highest points for anxiety, followed closely by tourism.
The lowest level was reached in 2001, at 214.87 meters (704.95 feet) below sea level. At that point the ecological damage to the beautiful lake was considered critical, as the water receded to as much as a thousand feet from where the beaches used to be.
Happily, the current rainy winter has elevated the Kinneret’s water level by 2.21 meters (7.25 feet), compared with that driest of seasons, 11 years ago. Altogether, this rainy season has contributed 1.4 meters (4.59 feet) to the water level, putting it at 212.66 meters (697.70 feet) below sea level.
This weekend alone brought up the lake’s level by 19 cm, or a little over half a foot.
The Kinneret needs to rise 3.86 meters (12.66 feet) to reach its optimal water level, which experts suggest could possibly happen after the end of the rainy season. They point out that record snow on the mountains north of the lake will result in record thawing come spring.
tell a friendAbout the Author: JewishPress.com Senior Internet Editor Yori Yanover has been a working journalist since age 17, before he enlisted and worked for Ba'Machane Nachal. Since then he has worked for Israel Shelanu, the US supplement of Yedioth, JCN18.com, USAJewish.com, Lubavitch News Service, Arutz 7 (as DJ on the high seas), and the Grand Street News. He has published two fun books: The Cabalist's Daughter: A Novel of Practical Messianic Redemption, and How Would God REALLY Vote.
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One Response to “Heavy Weekend Rains Raise Kinneret Water Level by Half a Foot”
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We are very happy — in the Jewish Communities of Metropolitan Detroit — to see the sky’s open and re-fill Lake Kinneret. My son Andrew just returned from Israel and couldn’t be happier of the good news as he has a new appreciation of Lake Kinneret and all of Israel from the Golan Hts to Eilat.