{"id":2309,"date":"2020-04-30T17:03:33","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T17:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/?p=2309"},"modified":"2020-04-30T17:12:30","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T17:12:30","slug":"too-much-water-for-the-kinneret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/en\/weather-climate\/too-much-water-for-the-kinneret\/","title":{"rendered":"Too much water for the Kinneret?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo by james ballard on Unsplash<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Recent history has not exactly been kind to the Kinneret, which had seen significant fluctuations in its water level over the past 70 years. Water level decline during the 1980s and 1990s can be attributed to an increased demand for freshwater from population growth as well as climatic and anthropogenic (human-induced) changes from agricultural and industrial development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until only\n15 years ago, the lake was one of Israel\u2019s primary sources of drinking water as\nthe country\u2019s first large scale desalination facility was not built before 2005<\/a>. In the last few years, a 5-year drought in the\nKinneret basin, caused\nthe pumping to virtually stop. In 2019, the lake supplied only 30<\/a> million\ncubic meters of water, a fraction of Israel\u2019s national water demands, while only a decade and\na half earlier, it was a vital water source for the country\u2019s survival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to\nanthropogenic changes, the Kinneret experienced cycles<\/a> of water outflow and inflow over the years.\nThe draining of the Hula Valley in the 1950s caused many changes in the water\ncharacteristics of the Kinneret, located 25 km downstream from this valley.\nHowever, the completion of the Hula Valley restoration<\/a> in 1998, deflected water draining\nfrom the Kinneret back to this valley, thus causing water levels to decrease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the\nearly 2000s, the lake registered record lows with water levels frequently\ndropping below the \u201c lower red line<\/a>\u201d of 213 meters below sea level (the\nlevel at which pumping more water can cause ecological damage). In November of\n2001, the Kinneret reached an all-time low water level of \u2212214.87<\/a> meters below sea level. However, after 2012<\/a>, the Israel Water Authority has\nbeen able to keep the water level between 213 meters below sea level and 209 meters\nbelow sea level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Kinneret has been negatively impacted by many factors in recent history, lately, the lake has made positive headlines because of a water level rise to only 13 cm below the \u201cupper red line\u201d of 208.80 meters below sea level. If the water crosses that point, it might cause flooding in the surrounding city of Tiberias and infrastructure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The draining of the Hula Valley in the 1950s caused many changes in the water characteristics of the Kinneret, located 25 km downstream from this valley. Photo by David King on Flickr.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Winter\nfloods and phytoplankton bloom <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According\nto Assaf Sukenik, a senior researcher at the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological\nResearch Institute, the major driving forces behind the changing water levels\nof the Kinneret are precipitation and evaporation, which impact the salinity\nand the nutrient content of the lake. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis year,\nwe\u2019ve seen a large influx of water into the Kinneret, which has a significant effect\non the quantity of nutrients in the lake and, thus, on the organisms living in\nthe lake,\u201d says Sukenik.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According\nto Sukenik, extensive vegetation around the lake has been growing during the\nlower water-level times and expanded close to the shorelines. Most of this\nvegetation became submerged during the past few months, as the lake\u2019s water\nlevel kept rising. As a result, these plants have started to die and decompose,\nthereby increasing the concentration of nutrients in the water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever,\nthis might only be a temporary effect as it will only take a year or two until\nthe submerged vegetation completely disappears if the water stays at the same\nlevel,\u201d Sukenik says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Normally,\nan increase in nutrients leads to phytoplankton (oxygen-producing algae and\ncyanobacteria) bloom. In this context, Sukenik talks about \u201cgood phytoplankton,\u201d\nin this case, dinoflagellates, and \u201cbad phytoplankton,\u201d the cyanobacteria. \u201cThere\nare two groups of phytoplankton that affect the health of the Sea of Galilee. The\ngood ones are dinoflagellates, which\nhave a beneficial impact on the ecosystem of the lake,\u201d explains Sukenik. \u201cSome cyanobacteria species, however, that are competing\nwith the dinoflagellates in the Lake Kinneret are notorious for the production\nof toxins, thus jeopardize the quality of the lake water and their\nsuitability as a source for drinking water,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According\nto Sukenik, the dinoflagellates seem to outcompete the cyanobacteria this year,\nas a limited harmful cyanobacteria blooms have been observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the\ncurrent conditions, Sukenik anticipates another ecological effect from the influx\nof water to the Sea of Galilee \u2013 a growing fish population. \u201cWe expect an\nincrease in sardine populations on account of the enhanced spawning ground for\nthis species,\u201d Sukenik says. Although more fish could be regarded as a positive\nside-effect of the increased water level of the Kinneret, there is a drawback\nto that development. \u201c Overproduction of sardines\nmight lead to the overconsumption\nof zooplankton and destabilize food web of the lake,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNonetheless, what we can see at the moment is a fewer cyanobacteria blooms, an improvement in water quality, and a reduction in salinity, which is great news for the overall state of the lake,\u201d Sukenik adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are two groups of phytoplankton that affect the health of the Sea of Galilee; harmful cyanobacteria and beneficial dinoflagellates. Photo by Jasper Nance on Flickr.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\nhuman factor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While more\nwater in the Sea of Galilee is generally good for a country that is already\nstricken by water scarcity, the flooding of the lake might adversely affect\nhuman activity in the vicinity. If strong seasonal winds push the high water over\nthe banks of the lake, it could reach adjacent populated areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn places\nlike Tiberias, many restaurants, shops, and hotels are located very close to\nthe shoreline. If the winds pick up, flooding might occur, and some of those facilities\ncould potentially experience damage,\u201d says Sukenik. \u201cHowever,\u201d Sukenik stresses,\n\u201cthose incidents always depend on the strength of the wind as well as the\ntiming. Other than that, I don\u2019t see any risk of damage\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From an\neconomic point of view, Sukenik also points out that if not for COVID-19, the\nSea of Galilee would have seen a thriving tourist season this spring, which\nundoubtedly has a positive impact on local businesses.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am sure\nthat tourism at the Sea of Galilee would be flourishing right now during\nPassover and Independence Day, and it remains to be seen if things go back to\nnormal until the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Sukenik is optimistic regarding the current state of the lake, he says that the unusually high water level this year is most likely a single event. \u201cAlthough the last two years have had relatively wet winters with a lot of precipitation, the general trend shows that consecutive drought years have become longer and more frequent. That\u2019s what we have seen in the past, here in Israel, and this will most likely be the trend in the future, too,\u201d he concludes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This ZAVIT article was also published in The Jerusalem Post<\/a> on 04\/24\/2020.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recent history has not exactly been kind to the Kinneret, which had seen significant fluctuations in its water level over …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":2335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,14,12,8],"tags":[],"acf":[],"post-meta-fields":{"_edit_lock":["1588266720:11"],"_edit_last":["11"],"subtitle":[" Since the beginning of the year, the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) has been rising at a consistent rate. Over the last couple of weeks, the water level has been pushing closer and closer to the \u201cupper red line,\u201d reaching a 16-year high. Such an extreme rise does not come without ecological implications"],"_subtitle":["field_59d3d36ea7fe1"],"_wpml_media_duplicate":["1"],"_wpml_media_featured":["1"],"_thumbnail_id":["2335"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2309"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2334,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309\/revisions\/2334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}