The opening of the dam will likely take place around April 2021 if the water level rises high enough.
By TZVI JOFFRE NOVEMBER 24, 2020 14:34
The Water Authority is preparing for the possibility that it may need to open the Degania Dam for the first time in 25 years as the Kinneret remains high after two years of especially rainy winters.
If the rainfall in the coming winter exceeds 90% of the perennial average, then the dam will need to be opened.
The hydrological service’s forecasts predict that the coming winter will have slightly lower rainfall than the perennial average, but the Kinneret is already just a little less than 1.2 meters below the upper red line which marks a full lake, due to the last two rainy winters. The Water Authority therefore believes that there is a likelihood that the Kinneret will fill up this winter and that the Degania Dam will need to be opened.
The opening of the dam will likely take place around April 2021 if the water level rises high enough. send water from the Kinneret to the southern Jordan River with the goal of bypassing the Degania Dam and preventing its opening.In April of this year, the authority decided to open a canal, which allowed five billion liters of water to flow from the Kinneret to the Jordan River and bypass the dam to avoid negatively affecting pumping stations in the area and the financial costs required to open the dam, which would also impact the water supply for agriculture in the area. The canal allowed for the Kinneret to be kept from overflowing without causing floods and waves.
The dam was opened partially in 2013, but has not been opened fully since 1995. It had been expected to be partially opened at the beginning of May in order to prevent flooding, according to the Kinneret Draining Authority.