Water supply and sanitation in Israel

Israel: Water and Sanitation
Data
Access to an improved water source	100% (2015)
Access to improved sanitation	100% (2015)
Continuity of supply (%)	Very high
Average urban water use (liter/capita/day)	137
Average urban domestic water and sewer bill for 20m3	249.60 NIS (Dec. 2010)
Share of household metering	Very high
Non-revenue water	n/a
Share of collected wastewater treated	over 90%
Annual investment in water supply and sanitation	n/a
Sources of financing	Bond issues and subsidies (Mekorot), government grants, soft loans and self-financing from revenues (municipalities), equity and commercial loans (desalination plants)
Institutions
Decentralization to municipalities	Yes (for water distribution and sanitation)
National water and sanitation company	Mekorot (Bulk water supplier)
Water and sanitation regulator	Governmental Authority of Water and Sewerage
Responsibility for policy setting	Minister of Energy and Water Resources
Sector law	Water Law 1959, amended most recently in 2006
Number of service providers	1 Bulk water supplier 76 cities 144 local councils 53 regional councils

Water supply and sanitation in Israel are intricately linked to the historical development of Israel. Because rain falls only in the winter, and largely in the northern part of the country, irrigation and water engineering are considered vital to the country's economic survival and growth. Large scale projects to desalinate seawater, direct water from rivers and reservoirs in the north, make optimal use of groundwater, and reclaim flood overflow and sewage have been undertaken. Among them is the National Water Carrier, carrying water from the country's biggest freshwater lake, the Sea of Galilee, to the northern Negev desert through channels, pipes and tunnels. Israel's water demand today outstrips available conventional water resources. Thus, in an average year, Israel relies for about half of its water supply on unconventional water resources, including reclaimed water and desalination. A particularly long drought in 1998–2002 had prompted the government to promote large-scale seawater desalination.

The history of the development of water supply and sanitation in modern Israel can be divided into distinct phases, beginning with the unilateral development of conventional water resources. This was followed by a period that emphasized the use of reclaimed water, the signing of an agreement to share water resources with Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, and the development of seawater desalination.

Because the coastal plain of Judea and Samaria had few water resources, Theodor Herzl already envisioned the transfer of water from the Jordan River to the coast for irrigation and drinking water supply. In 1937 the national water company Mekorot was created, more than a decade before the creation of the state of Israel. Among its achievements was the Shiloach Pipeline along the Burma Road to Jerusalem built during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and a first pipeline to the Negev in 1955. Between 1953 and 1955 the United States Special Representative for Water in the Middle East, Eric Johnston, had negotiated the Jordan Valley Unified Water Plan to jointly develop the water resources of the Jordan River Basin between Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. The Johnston Plan was rejected by the Arab League, but Israel nevertheless abided by its water allocation under the plan. Mekorot began a Rain Enhancement program in 1961, increasing rainfall by 13–18%. A Brackish Water Pipeline to divert brackish ground water from the Sea of Galilee to the Lower Jordan was completed in 1965. The main water resources project at the time, however, was the transfer of water from the Sea of Galilee to the coast through the National Water Carrier in 1965. As a reaction to the construction of the pipeline, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan tried to divert the headwaters of the Jordan River. This was one of the events that increased tensions leading to the Six-Day War of 1967 during which Israel captured the West Bank and the Golan Heights.

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