legislation will force Water Authority to act according with Energy minister's policy

Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz is initiating legislation that will require the Water Authority to act in accordance with the policy that the minister will determine. As in the case of the Electricity Authority, which became a unit directly subordinate to the Minister of Energy, in the case of the Water Authority, Steinitz strives to subordinate the PA only partially, at the level of the general policy, while maintaining the professional and administrative independence of the Authority. To date, the Water Authority is committed to act in accordance with the decisions of the Water Authority Council, in which the Energy Ministry has only one representative out of 8 members.
According to the proposal examined in the Ministry, the Authority will be able to present to the Minister its professional position to be published, but the final decision on the policy will be in the hands of the Minister and the Authority will be obligated to act accordingly.
The Minister of Energy was criticized by the Minister of Energy. The minister criticized the minister for not requiring the Water Authority to present him with a master plan, and he made do with a policy document that does not constitute a master plan for the comptroller's opinion.

The State Comptroller found in a very serious report that the Water Authority did not properly manage and caused a shortage of water that is not the result only of years of shortage of rainfall. The State Comptroller's report indicates that the lack of sustainable planning of the water sector and its failed management by the PA have once again put the water sector in crisis. Among other things, the Water Authority, according to the comptroller, allowed the water level of the Sea of ​​Galilee to fall below the lower line, which could cause irreparable damage to the water source.

"The volume of almost all natural water reservoirs is lower than their red lines, and certainly lower than the green ones," he wrote, "Large volumes of water are polluted or in danger of serious pollution and are not treated, many production tools are becoming obsolete and out of use, .
The comptroller also noted that in the absence of a happy master plan, the management of the water sector prevents the constraints of coping with the developing crisis, rather than planning a plan for the water sector. In the long term, which will allow for balanced actions when necessary.
The Water Authority did not define priorities for the water sector as required by the government decision of October 2010, and did not set long-term goals for implementing projects that would allow annual work plans and multi-year development plans for the water sector and did not pass them to the Water Council for approval. As a result, the comptroller wrote, the water sector is not managed optimally and crisis situations arise.
Another flaw that Comptroller Shapira found was the lack of action to reduce demand for water. In the report, the report noted that although the upward trend in water consumption per capita has returned since 2015, the Water Authority has not taken measures to encourage water saving and reduce the increase in water consumption since 2018. This is not the case.
The Water Authority hastened to increase the water quotas for agriculture before it brought all the water sources in Israel to the required hydrological condition, and before it brought the aquifers to the operating state within the boundaries of the green lines. The comptroller added that when planning water resources and allocating them to agriculture between 2016 and 2013, the Water Authority did not take into account the actual consumption data and the demand for water for agriculture.
The comptroller found that in the years 2017-2013, the Water Authority allowed the exploitation of natural water reservoirs - the aquifers, sometimes even contrary to the recommendation of the Hydrological Service. The comptroller wrote that in doing so, the Water Authority has led to the depletion of these reservoirs to the point of causing irreversible damage to them. The State Comptroller added that the Water Authority did not rehabilitate the natural water reservoirs and did not act to preserve them as long-term sources of water.
The comptroller also found that the Water Authority has not yet begun to carry out new drills and rehabilitate old drillings in order to maintain production capacity to the extent required. The comptroller noted that this delay could harm the preservation of the production capacity from the drills and the regular supply of water, and cause the investment of unnecessary resources for the temporary supply of water.
In the area of ​​desalination, the comptroller also found faults. The audit found that the Water Authority actually changed the target of the desalination level set by the government without obtaining government approval, contrary to the proper government regulations. The Water Authority did not even bring the target change to the approval of the ISRAC Council. The auditor wrote that changing the target in this manner led to the failure to develop desalination plants on time and in accordance with the needs of the water sector. According to Shapira, the Water Authority has not operated since 2013 to increase desalination capacity to 750 million cubic meters in 2020.
In addition, the Water Authority did not approve an orderly work plan for the construction of desalination facilities in the long term, and did not specify the order of construction of the facilities and the date of commencement of construction of each facility and facility, ensuring the supply of water according to the demand forecast.
In addition, the Water Authority did not act to find alternatives for the supply of water as required during the period when the Ashdod desalination plant did not operate at full planned capacity. The Water Authority also did not implement alternative solutions to supply water to the northern region, despite the delay in the construction of the desalination plant in the Western Galilee, which was supposed to begin operation in 2015, but in practice it has not yet been established. The comptroller added that the Authority has not sufficiently advanced the reinforcement of desalinated water supply through the national system to the northern region, which has a cumulative deficit of about 200 million Cu.M The comptroller added that the failure to promote these solutions could endanger the main water reservoirs in this area and harm the water supply Standardization.
In conclusion, the comptroller wrote that Israel's water sector has been in crisis for more than four decades.
The comptroller wrote that the State Comptroller's Office views the functioning of the Water Authority, which brought the water sector and natural water reservoirs to a state of crisis, at a time when the Israeli water sector faces serious challenges.
The Water Authority said in response: "A rare sequence of five years of drought that hits the State of Israel can not receive an early planning response, because such a response requires huge investments that directly affect the water tariff for the consumer. Which is derived from an orderly master plan The planning and management of the Israeli water sector is one of the most successful and advanced in the world, and is an example of how to cope with and adapt the water sector to climate change and long-term planning. Absolutely And is in the process of being implemented "
The Ministry of Energy said in response that "all the powers for the management of the water sector have been given by the Water Authority and the Water Council, but since this is the fifth consecutive year of drought in Israel, the ministry has led a strategic plan approved by the government in order to provide an appropriate response to the crisis in the water sector, The principles of the master plan for the water sector and the policy of operating the water sector in times of emergency, and the Ministry intends to continue to act to advance the water sector for the long term. "