Lake Kinneret facing unusual decline in water level

Hope is that expected weekend storm will boost the basin above the lower red line.

By SHARON UDASIN
Updated: DECEMBER 29, 2015 12:00
Lake Kinneret (photo credit: JULIE STEIGERWALD)
Lake Kinneret
(photo credit: JULIE STEIGERWALD)
Three months into the country's rainy season, but with little rain at all in the North, Lake Kinneret's water level has dropped to a dramatic 4 cm. below the basin's "lower red line," the Water Authority reported on Tuesday.
As of that morning, the water level in the lake, also known as the Sea of Galilee, stood at 213.04 meters below sea level.
"Kinneret water level declines at the end of December are unusual circumstances, occurring most recently only in 2008," a statement from the Water Authority said. While the central coastal region has received periods of heavy rains throughout the past three months, the relatively dry weather in the North has led to a significant decrease in the flow of streams and springs in the area overall, according to the Water Authority.
As an expected storm likely develops this weekend, authority officials expressed hopes that the large amounts of precipitation forecasted will benefit the Kinneret, and potentially boost the basin above the lower red line.