Posted by: Joe Yudin | January 13, 2010

Tourists never want it to rain during their stay in Israel, but it has to rain sometime. It rained today and that's great. No Israel is not, as most people think , one big desert. Only half of Israel is one big desert. The other half that stretches from the coast and southern part of the Judean Foothills along the border area of Hebron all the way north through Samaria, the Galilean mountains and the Golan Heights is one of the most fertile areas in the Middle East…when it rains. The Land of Israel after all is the center of the Fertile Crescent that stretches from the Tigris and Euphrates, down along the Jordan River across Israel and along the Nile.

Israel has pretty much been in a drought since 1993. That doesn't mean that rain has stopped completely it just means that it isn't raining enough. In the last 16 years it has only rained the yearly average for 3 winter seasons. Consumption of water has actually risen over the same time period due to an increase of population in Israel and to an increase of the standard of living here as well. This is a drought of biblical proportions, literally. When we read the Bible whether it's Genesis or Kings or just about any other book there is usually a story about a drought. These droughts lasted anywhere between 7-40 years, and here we are in the midst of another one. The Bible often related that the droughts were punishment for the Hebrews turning away from the Word of God, well maybe so I guess we can do battle against this drought in several ways.

Water prices have been on the rise for several years now which has put many of thousands of farmers out of business, even though farmers do get a break on taxes. Farmers now are planting crops that use less water. Say goodbye to Israeli oranges and cotton and hello to tomatoes and pumpkins. Also Israel recycles and reuses a larger percentage of its brackish water than any other country on earth. 95% of our sewage water is recycled and reused. This however is not enough.

Israel is a world leader in desalinization facilities. Israel companies have built dozens of desalinization plants all over the world. But in Israel we only have three public desalinization plants online with two more being built as we speak. The problem with desalinated water is twofold. First it's expensive to make and secondly you need energy to produce fresh water hence fossil fuels are burned to make water. The answer to that is to build solar and wind farms, something Israeli companies have been doing all over the world but only on a limited scope here at home. Again it’s a money issue, but slowly as Israel is becoming more affluent pressure is finally being applied from the public to the government to attack the lack of fresh water in a more "green" way.

15 years ago the Sea of Galilee, or lake Kinneret as we call it here in Israel, was used for 80% of our home consumption of water. Today its down to only 40% however that number is misleading. We use much more water than we did 15 years ago and our population has grown by millions. The Kinneret is at a dangerous low level, five full meters below full, and if this trend continues salt will seep into the lake and ruin it forever. So I ask you all to do two things: Please pray for it to rain in the Holy Land and don't be sorry when it does, even when you are touring Israel.

Check out a flash flood in the Judean Desert. When it rains, it pours! http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=56631621244#