The National Water Council of Israel gave final approval today to the first stage of the national irrigation plan to be completed in the winter of 1963-64.
This stage of the plan, which has been repeatedly and strongly protested by the neighboring Arab states, calls for completion of a waterline from Lake Tiberias to Tel Aviv at which point the water would be pumped to the present Yarkon River-Negev waterline.
The plan would provide for a flow of 225,000,000 cubic meters of water annually from Lake Tiberias southward. A pumping station has been completed at Lake Tiberias and pumping equipment is expected to be in operation by the coming winter. Work is now underway on parts of the pipeline and the connecting tunnels.
Officials said approval of the project at this stage was made essential by the acute salination of underground waters in the central parts of Israel and the lowering of the subterranean water surface.
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