On Tuesday, December 27, 58 years after the completion of the All-Israel Water Conduit, the Mekorot company completed work on laying the Reverse Water Conduit, which will deliver desalinated water from the Mediterranean Sea to Lake Kinneret.
Construction work was carried out for about five years and cost the state a billion shekels. After commissioning, it will supply water to the bed of the Tsalmon stream, which will carry water to the Kinneret.
The task of the “Reverse Conduit” is to prevent the water level in the Kinneret from falling below the “black” line during drought years.
At the first stage, the conduit will pump 10-20 million cubic meters per year, and at the second stage, by the end of the decade, about 120 million cubic meters per year. This will add to the Kinneret level from 12 to 72 centimeters.
Hydrologists and ecologists also hope that the return conduit will improve the quality of the water in the lake, the salinity of which has increased in recent years from 260 milligrams per liter to 325 milligrams per liter.