Israel is facing its worst drought in a decade.
The Water Authority announced this week that due to low precipitation, high irrigation consumption and pollution, the amount of usable water supplies in the country were at a 10-year low.
By year’s end, the authority said, the Sea of Galilee’s level looks likely to drop below the so-called “black line,” when pumping will have to stop as the machinery will no longer be submerged.
Officials said Israel may soon ration water, a measure last imposed in the late 1990s. The authority, meanwhile, is pressing ahead with desalination projects aimed at supplementing lost water supplies.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.