Drought Danger Not Over

June 4, 2009

Dr. Amos Porat, head of the Climatology Department of the IMS, told Bridges for Peace in early April that the majority of locations in the Galilee region were at about 80–85% of normal for the whole season, with most places at around 90% of normal for that time of year. That contrasts to the Galilee region receiving something like 60–70% of normal the season before. This season’s near normalcy comes after what Dr. Porat described as a “very extreme” beginning to the rainy season that saw some average rainfall amounts in the 30–50% range. Despite the big jump from then to April, Dr. Porat said it is “maybe a bit of a surprise, but not a very big one,” since they expected it would not stay so dry all winter long, although he said it may have exceeded expectations.

Despite the heavy February rains, they were not enough to offset last season’s drought, which is likely to still lead to crisis levels this summer. According to an article in The Jerusalem Post in early March, the February rainstorm meant reduced water cuts for Israeli farmers. Yet even normal levels won’t lead to a complete turn around in the water crisis, which is likely to leave the Sea of Galilee in dire need this summer. Haaretz reported that the Water Authority estimated in late March that the Galilee would still reach the dangerous black line by the time the next rainy season starts and earlier said lawn-watering prohibitions would be extended.

Dr. Porat explained, “Most of the last five or six years were below average…[this year] doesn’t point to a real improvement. It’s better than last season, which is good, but it is not compensational or something like a trend that ‘ok, now it’s become much better.’ We still do need this really rainy season, like we received in the winter of 2002–03, which was very rainy; that was really a good compensation. We need such a winter, not one like we had [in 2008–09].”

Thank you for your prayers for rain in Israel, and praise and thanks to our Heavenly Father for pouring out some desperately needed rains in February. Please continue to pray for Israel during the dry summer months that the nation’s water supplies and the Galilee would avoid dangerous levels and that the next rainy season would be all that the Land needs.

By Joshua Spurlock, Correspondent, BFP Israel Mosaic Radio

Photo Credit: Photo by Will King

Photo Credit: www.israelimages.com/HananIsachar