Stalled at the water's edge
Haaretz
August 2, 2007
By Haaretz Editorial
The many visitors to the Kinneret this summer are in for a disappointment. Most of the lake's shores are still surrounded by fences and an admission fee is charged. If this was not enough, entering some of the beaches is impossible because of pollution caused by raw sewage flowing into the water.
In the last two years, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel has waged a vigorous campaign against the fencing off of the Kinneret's beaches and the charging of dozens of shekels per person to enter - both violations of the law. The state comptroller castigated these practices in a report he released, increasing the public support for the struggle to open the beaches.
At some point, it appeared the public pressure had yielded results. The Interior Ministry began to remove fences and initiate legal proceedings against businesspeople who had illegally taken over beaches.
The national Planning and Construction Commission approved a plan to build a path around the Kinneret, enabling people to walk all the way around the lake.
However, as Eli Ashkenazi reported last week (Haaretz, July 27), the progress was blocked. Most Kinneret beaches still charge admission and most still have fences around them. At the free beaches, there are no cleanup services, which the authorities used to finance with the admission fees, and they are filthy.
The progress has stalled mainly because of the obstacles put in place by the local authorities responsible for the beaches and the ministries' inability to coordinate the effort to change the situation.
The pollution was caused by the recent breakdowns in Tiberias' sewage system, which led to the sewage flow into the Kinneret. Consequently, the concentration of E coli bacteria rose during peak season.
The failure to open the Kinneret beaches and ensure their cleanliness makes it necessary to continue the public pressure on the ministries to preserve Israel's only lake and one of its main water sources.
The effort must proceed on two parallel tracks. One, to remove systematically every illegal fence and stop every illegal admission fee. The other track is to ensure financial assistance to local authorities to upkeep cleanliness at the beaches. The authorities' complaints about not being able to afford to clean up the filth created by hundreds and thousands of visitors should not be ignored.
Both tracks can be advanced by setting up a special authority to deal with the Kinneret and concentrate the appropriate powers and budgets.
As for the chronic collapses of the sewage system, this highlights the wider problem of local authorities that fail to maintain their facilities. What is required is more aggressive enforcement of the law against authorities that cause pollution.
Other measures are needed, such as new sewage and water corporations to service the infrastructure without being directly dependent on one local authority or another. Their job would be to ensure that the water and sewage taxes are used only for the purpose for which they are collected.
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