The State Comptroller has pointed out the damage caused to aquifers by over-pumping several times in the last 15 years, but the government, the Water Commission and the Ministry of Environmental Quality have not done enough to stop the deterioration of the aquifers and restore them, even though they are one of the most vital natural resources for the State of Israel
From: State Comptroller, Report 56 B for 2006
Prevention of salinization and pollution of the aquifers
Summary
The main natural water sources of the State of Israel are the groundwater in the aquifers and the Kinneret basin. Groundwater supplies about two-thirds of the annual water consumption. The two main aquifers that supply groundwater are the coastal aquifer and the mountain aquifer.
Pollution and salinization of aquifers result from natural factors, which cannot be controlled, and artificial factors, which are affected by human activity (such as over-pumping, industrial pollution and agricultural activity). The groundwater slowly becomes polluted, but its restoration also takes a long time. The best way to keep them is to prevent them from contamination and salting.
The average water consumption in the years 1993-2003 was about 2 billion cubic meters (hereafter - m1.8) per year. During these years, the average production of water from natural water sources - ground water and surface water (water found on the surface of the continents) - was about XNUMX billion cubic meters per year. The difference between consumption and production was made up with the help of alternative water sources.
In June 2002, the Water Commission prepared a "master plan (transition) for the development of the water sector in the years 2002-2010". The goals of the plan were, among other things, to stop the deterioration of the natural water sources and ensure the quality of the water in the natural reservoirs. In the same plan, the cumulative deficit in the natural water source was estimated at about 2 billion cubic meters (mXNUMX).
The maintenance level of the instruments of the hydrological service at the Water Commission, the drillings and hydrometric stations is poor. The instrumentation and drilling are used, among other things, to measure the pollution and salinization of the aquifers. A delay in routine maintenance work on the equipment of the hydrological service and the hydrometric stations harms the supervision and control ability of the Water Commission and the possibility of receiving reliable data on the state of the aquifers.
The documents of the Water Commission indicate that due to overproduction that lasted for years, the levels dropped and seawater penetrated into the coastal aquifer and salted some of the fresh water reserves. It was found that in some places the salty water penetrated to a distance of about two kilometers from the coastline. Pushing this salty water out of the aquifer is a difficult and slow process that requires considerable amounts of water.
The Water Commissioner is in charge of managing the water sector and preventing the pollution of water sources. According to his powers in the Water Law, 1959-2004, he may issue orders and take actions to prevent damage to a water source. If the instructions of the order are not fulfilled within a reasonable time, the commissioner may take all the necessary actions and charge the costs to the person who caused the pollution. In XNUMX, the Water Commission did not use the budget given to it to repair the defect, even though its documents show that there was a case in which it should have been used for this purpose. Groundwater contamination centers in the center of the country have not yet been treated and have been under investigation for several years, even though the infections in some of them were discovered as early as the early XNUMXs and XNUMXs.
By the time the audit was completed, no regulations had been installed to prevent water pollution from fuel pipelines and tank farms, the treatment of which began in 1997. The dispute between the Water Commission and the Ministry of Environmental Quality regarding the division of powers between them, which the State Comptroller previously commented on, has not yet been resolved.
Pollution and salinization of aquifers result from natural factors, which cannot be controlled, such as brackish water bodies found in aquifers, and artificial factors, which depend on human activity. The artificial factors are: 1. Over-pumping - leads to a drop in groundwater levels and increased infiltration of seawater into aquifers that drain to the sea; The over-pumping also causes the creation of hydrological depressions (hydrological craters) in the groundwater level, and these prevent pollutants from draining from the aquifer to the sea; 2. Industrial pollution - causes pollutants to wash into the ground and seep into the groundwater; 3. Extensive agricultural activity (fertilization and pest control) - results in the discharge of leachates of poor quality into the groundwater; 4. Sewage water quality - due to old standards, sewage water is used which pollutes the aquifers.
Pollution and salinization of the aquifers lead to a decrease in the quality of the water in the aquifers, and this is mainly expressed in the increase in the concentration of chloride (used as a benchmark for the level of salinity of the groundwater) and in the increase in the concentration of nitrate (used as a benchmark for the level of pollution in the groundwater). The residence time of water in a water source has a decisive effect on the processes of pollution and salinization and the ability to restore the water source. Groundwater does get polluted slowly, but it also takes a long time to restore it, so the best way to preserve it is to prevent it from being polluted and salted.
From the data of the Water Commission, it appears that in the years 1997-2004, pumping was stopped in about 120 wells that provided drinking water with a production volume of about 34 million cubic meters (hereafter - MLMC). In about half of the wells (55) the pumping was stopped because of a high concentration of nitrate. From a document of the Water Commission from January 2004, it appears that a future worsening of the nitrate standard and comparing it to the internationally accepted standard will disqualify the coastal aquifer (from Rehovot to Binyamina), and it will not be possible to use it for direct drinking without treating the water.
From October 2004 to August 2005, the State Comptroller's Office inspected the handling of the prevention of contamination and salinization of the aquifers. Matters related to supervision and enforcement in the field of preventing the pollution of water sources were also examined. The audit was done mainly in the Water Commission in the Ministry of National Infrastructures, the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Justice.
In his answer, the water commissioner stated that "the difficulties in maintaining hydrometric stations have been going on for several years", and that in the last five years no tenders were made for the maintenance of these stations and the issue was not handled properly. The commissioner also explained that recently agreements have been signed for renovation work at the stations, and the commission is preparing tender documents for the restoration and ongoing maintenance of hydrometric stations, but the publication of the tender is conditional on the budgets.
From the documents attached to the Commissioner's reply, it appears that five positions in the hydrological service, including positions related to the coastal aquifer and the mountain aquifer, are not filled, and will be filled after a tender regarding them is completed. The Commissioner added in his answer that the post of "Senior Hydrometry Center" was canceled and "the absence of a person in this key position causes a serious damage to the issue of surface water data quality".
The State Comptroller's Office commented to the Water Commission that the delay in routine maintenance work on the equipment of the hydrological service and the hydrometric stations harms the supervision and control ability of the Water Commission and the possibility of receiving reliable data on the state of the aquifers. Also, unreliable information about the state of the aquifers may lead to unfounded decisions, which may further damage the quality of the groundwater in the aquifers.
At the time the audit was completed in August 2005, the treatment of the groundwater pollution caused by the waste sites had not yet been completed, and the damage to the groundwater continues.
The audit revealed that the drinking water administration did not complete the three-year plan, nor the alternative plan "to ensure the quality of drinking water", which the administration decided to promote in 2002. It should be noted that the drinking water administration did not meet at all in the years 2001-2003, and in 2004 it met only twice. The commissioner explained in his answer that the preparation of the alternative plan should be completed in July 2006.
According to the State Comptroller's Office, the lack of this information harms the Commission's ability to assess the budgets it requests from the Ministry of Finance to deal with infections. Furthermore, without this information, the Commission will have difficulty applying the "polluter pays" principle if it has to restore the situation itself and claim the expenses from the polluter, or monitor the polluter's investments during the restoration of the water sources.
It was found that even after the publication of the State Comptroller's report - in which it was stated that "the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Justice must work together to complete the regulations... this is necessary to ensure that the governmental bodies have an effective instrument for enforcing the non-contamination of the groundwater from the fuel pipeline and facilities The storage and dispensing of fuels" - the delay continued and the regulations were not installed, mainly because of the dispute between the Water Commission and the Ministry of the Environment regarding the powers regarding the treatment of pollution of water sources and land.
In conclusion, the critic writes: "The aquifers are the main sources of water available to the Israeli water sector. Deficiencies were found in the supervision and control procedures for the contamination and salinization of the aquifers. It was found that the Water Commission does not insist on receiving a financial estimate of the damages caused to the natural water sources by the various pollutants."
"The dispute between the Water Commission and the Ministry of the Environment regarding the authorities regarding the treatment of pollution of the water sources and the land has not yet been resolved. At the time the audit was completed, regulations to prevent water pollution in tank farms and fuel pipelines had not yet been installed."
"The State Comptroller has pointed out the damage caused to aquifers by over-pumping several times in the last 15 years, but the government, the Water Commission and the Ministry of Environmental Quality have not done enough to stop the deterioration of the aquifers and restore them, even though they are one of the most vital natural resources for the State of Israel. It is appropriate for the government to instruct those in charge of handling the prevention of pollution and salinization of aquifers to settle their disputes and do everything necessary to restore the aquifers and to stop damage to them."
