-Caveat Lector-
From
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Friday, May 31, 2002 Sivan 20, 5762
Israel Time: 03:33 (GMT+3)
Water report warns of impending crisis
By Zvi Zrahiya
A parliamentary inquiry into the water crisis in Israel yesterday submitted its 300-
page report, whose main conclusions included moving responsibility for the nation's
water to the Prime Minister's Office, establishing an independent water authority, and
declaring a state of water emergency for the next two years, that would limit the use
of water.
The committee, headed by MK David Magen, was established a year ago. Its report
says that in the coming three years the water crisis will only worsen, and there could
be a lack of potable water that could have a wide- ranging impact on the economy.
It says the reason for the crisis is years of ignoring the mounting crisis, and
tardiness
at establishing alternative water sources in the country.
Citing bureaucratic delays and negligence by governments, the report also praises
former prime minister Ehud Barak, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for taking the
problem seriously, as well as former finance minister Avraham Shochat, former
agriculture minister Haim Oron, and former national infrastructure minister Avigdor
Lieberman.
Without naming specific people, it charges that treasury officials, among others,
deliberately obstructed attempts to adapt the water infrastructure to the changing
needs of the country, and that the treasury transferred some NIS 600 million
earmarked for water infrastructure into other projects.
"The writing was on the wall," says the report, noting that Mekorot, the state-owned
hydrology company, "could have done more."
To streamline the water bureaucracy, the report recommends that the Prime
Minister's Office be given full authority for legislative matters regarding water,
while
the Water Authority be beefed up with powers enabling it to move quickly on such
decisions as whether to open or cap wells. It said the Water Commissioner should
be appointed by the prime minister, and have a statutory position independent of any
ministry. The commissioner would be able to revoke water supply licenses and issue
new licenses.
The report did not delve into the question of purchasing water from Turkey, saying
that it was as much a political issue as one of water supply.
The Infrastructure Ministry has contracted for two new desalination plants, but they
are not expected to go online for another two years at least.
MK Mordechai Sandberg, who was on the committee, said that he believed the
treasury was responsible for the water crisis, and that he would ask for the minutes
and transcripts of the committee's meetings to be sent to the attorney general to
open a criminal investigation against those treasury officials whom he claimed
obstructed development of the water infrastructure.
© Copyright 2002 Ha`aretz. All rights reserved
End<{{{
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