This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
In a land that has been turned from a desert into lush croplands, a first-of-its-kind project is taking place: Israeli officials are replenishing a depleted water level in the freshwater Sea of Galilee with washed ocean water.
Precipitation in the drainage has been scarce in recent years, only 40% of what was expected last year, and the location provides water to vast regions around it.
So, according to a report in the Times of Israel, the lake with the "dangerously low" level was being raised as desalinated water is being pumped into it by the nation's Water Authority.
It is the first ever attempt in the world for such a project, the report said.
"The groundbreaking project, years in the making and a sign of both Israel's success in converting previously unusable water into a vital resource and the rapidly dropping water levels in the country's largest freshwater reservoir, was quietly inaugurated on October 23," the report said.
The water is flowing down the seasonal Tsalmon Stream to the Sea of Galilee at the Ein Ravid spring, near what is Israel's emergency drinking source.
The project is expected to raise the water level by a fraction of an inch each month, according to Firas Talhami, in which of water rehabilitation work in northern Israel.
The report noted Israel pulls hundreds of millions of cubic meters annually from the lake to supply local communities and augment its supply of desalinated water, however, that withdrawal is expected to be limited for a time now.
Currently, one pipe is sending about 264,000 gallons of water into the lake per hour.
The report said, "Tests carried out by scientists have indicated that the project will not have any significant deleterious effect on ecosystems, though there have also been some concerns that the desalinated water could harm local ecology by diluting the lake's relatively high salinity."
The work on the project was begun after drought years in 2013 to 2018, when the lake's level dropped significantly.
The report said Israel now desalinates enough water to supply most of its own population, with leftovers for nearby nations.
