Then Israel invested heavily in desalination technology and professed to have solved the problem by tapping into the abundant waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
Now, a five-year drought is challenging that strategy, as farmers struggle and the country’s most important bodies of water shrink.
In a bid to achieve water security, Israel has opened five desalination plants since 2005 and plans to expand that effort in the coming years.
But the tone has changed recently, and over the last few months a televised ad again has pleaded with Israelis to save water because — rehashing a tagline from previous campaigns — “Israel is drying up.” Critics say water conservation was sidelined in favor of desalination.
‘You need to conserve’ “Desalination doesn’t make up for everything, and when groundwater is suffering from drought and the Sea of Galilee is suffering from drought, you need to conserve,” said Caspi-Oron.
But there are no plans so far to pursue the measures this time around.
But in northern Israel, residents still rely on rapidly shrinking natural sources.
Israel has imposed a limit on the amount of water they can use, which has threatened an already tenuous livelihood and forced many to rethink their crops.
If I don’t water them for a year, 20 years would go down the drain,” he said.
The drought “will be solved, there is no question,” Steinitz, the energy minister, said.