A significant drop in the level of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) was recorded on Sunday following an extreme heatwave that swept through Israel last week, bringing it closer to the lower red line, Hebrew media reported.
“The Sea of Galilee has lost several centimeters since the start of the severe heatwave last week,” Kinneret Department Manager at the Water Authority Firas Telhami said, according to Ynet.
“The evaporation rate, especially in the last two days of the peak of the heatwave, increased by tens of percent compared to normal summer days,” he added.
As of Sunday, the Sea of Galilee stood at a level of 212.595 meters (almost 700 feet) below sea level, which is only 40.5 centimeters (about 16 inches) above the lower red line, Ynet reported.
Due to the water’s evaporation, the little island located opposite of Kibbutz Ma’agan at the southeast of the Kinneret can now be seen above the water.
In an average summer month, the Sea of Galilee loses 30 to 35 centimeters (around 11 to 13 inches) of its water level, Telhami said.
The Water Authority has reduced pumping from the Kinneret to the bare minimum in light of Israel’s dry year, he went on to say, but with another heatwave such as the one experienced last week, its levels will only continue to decline.
Idan Greenbaum, chairman of the Union of Kinneret Cities, a regional body responsible for managing the beaches and surrounding areas of the Sea of Galilee, was quoted as saying, “Every day we follow with concern the sad state of the Kinneret, seeing how it loses a few cubic meters every day, how the famous island opposite Kibbutz Ma’agan, which has become a symbol, is growing [taller] before our eyes. We hope and wish that we will have a winter with blessed rains alongside the beginning of the flow of desalinated water.”
The Kinneret is Israel’s largest freshwater lake. It is the lowest freshwater lake on earth and serves as a popular tourist destination. Its elevation oscillates between 215 and 209 meters (705 and 686 feet) below sea level, depending on rainfall.
From 2016 to 2018, the Kinneret’s level declined below the lower red line, which stands at 213 meters (~699 feet) below sea level. Its lowest point in those years was 324 meters (1,063 feet) below sea level. The Sea of Galilee’s levels rose from the second half of 2018 and remained relatively high until 2024, after which a year of drought ensued.
According to meteorological records, this past winter was the driest in nearly a century, triggering alarm across the country’s agricultural and environmental sectors, Israel’s Channel 12 News reported in June.
“We noticed the waves breaking over the island again,” said Asaf Griewald, a nature photographer from Kibbutz Ma’agan, in an interview with the outlet. “The water level has dropped so much that you can now stand on it,” he said.
“This situation hasn’t been seen in nearly 100 years,” said Idan Barnea of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. “In normal years, water flows over the region’s dams. Now they’re dry. Israel must act quickly—build agricultural reservoirs in the Hula Valley and connect the region to the national water system.”
