Israel on the brink of water crisis: desalination drops to 60%

Israel is facing a major crisis in its desalination system, with desalinated water production falling to 60% of normal due to environmental factors and systemic miscalculations in long-term planning. The Knesset Commission on State Control held an emergency meeting, where the causes, consequences and historical parallels were announced, as well as steps to overcome the situation.

An emergency meeting of the Knesset State Control Commission was held in Jerusalem on the acute crisis in the desalination system in Israel. The reason for the discussion was an unprecedented situation: due to unusual algae blooms and a sharp increase in turbidity of seawater, five of the country’s six largest desalination plants were forced to partially shut down, and currently only about 60% of the usual volume of desalinated water is produced.

The meeting was chaired by MP Alon Schuster, who said: The current crisis once again highlights the shortcomings that the Auditor General pointed out earlier. We cannot foresee everything, but we must be prepared.” During the discussion, it turned out that the warnings of the supervisory authorities for many years remained unheeded, and systemic measures to prevent such crises were not implemented.

Historical retrospective shows that such incidents are not new to Israel: from 2007 to 2023, there were 14 cases of seawater pollution, each leading to the suspension of desalination plants. Despite this, the Water Resources Authority has not yet finalized a comprehensive water management master plan, and the long-term desalination programme through 2050 remains incomplete. The Auditor General has repeatedly stressed the need to preserve natural water sources, especially underground aquifers, as a strategic reserve.

The scale of the current problem is confirmed by the data for 2024: then 225 million cubic meters of production capacity for desalination of water were not used - a volume comparable to a third of all Kinneret reserves. As of September 2026, the water level in Kineret continues to be the subject of close monitoring, since this lake, together with underground wells, now compensates for the desalinated water.

The Director General of the Water Resources Authority, Yehezkel Lifshitz, said that the water shortage is being filled by Kinneret and wells, and the desalination plant in Hadera is operating in a limited mode. The department is preparing for a scenario in which desalination plants will reduce production by 50%, and ordered to increase water storage. Director General of the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure Yossi Dayan stressed that “at no stage was the water supply of residential buildings disrupted, and there was no real threat,” and rumors of a cyber attack were not confirmed.

At the same time, the commission drew attention to serious shortcomings in the system of supervision of desalination plants: neither the Ministry of Health nor the Water Resources Authority conducted regular inspections of facilities, and the Ministry of Health has not yet completed a study on drinking water quality problems. MP Gilad Kariv said: “I am not sure that we are now using the difference between normal consumption and real deficits to the maximum benefit,” stressing the need to direct excess capacity to the restoration of underground aquifers.

The current crisis clearly demonstrates the vulnerability of the Israeli water system, despite its reputation as a world leader in desalination technology. Excessive reliance on offshore installations without proper strategic redundancy and incomplete long-term planning creates systemic risks. The Commission decided to hold an additional monitoring meeting to review the progress in overcoming the crisis and implementing the Auditor General’s recommendations. Alon Schuster, chairman of the commission, said that without concrete institutional changes, the country risks facing a similar situation again with each subsequent environmental incident on the Mediterranean coast.