Severe sea turbidity caused by the weather has halted most private desalination plants, leaving only Hadera operating among six major facilities and forcing freshwater cuts to agriculture in southern IsraelThe Water Authority said the shutdowns began Saturday but were only disclosed Monday. It ordered reductions in freshwater supplies to agriculture in southern Israel, where some areas have already stopped agricultural water use entirely. The Ramat Negev Regional Council halted freshwater supplies for farming, while Tel Aviv Municipality said it would reduce use for landscaping and other nonessential purposes.GalleryGranot desalination plant (Photo: Naftali Hilger)The disruption has not affected desalination facilities in Eilat and Hadera, nor 20 local facilities operated by national water company Mekorot. However, as of Monday afternoon, Hadera was the only one of Israel’s six major desalination plants still operating.The Ashkelon and Ashdod plants were shut down Saturday, while the Sorek and Palmachim facilities stopped operating Sunday afternoon or overnight. Water Authority Director General Yehezkel Lifshitz said there was hope that the Sorek B plant could resume operations soon because recent water samples appeared favorable.Severe turbidity prevents desalination facilities from operating because suspended material in seawater can clog membranes and disrupt the filtration process. The plants will resume operations once water quality returns to required levels, though facilities in the same geographic area may restart at different times because of differences in intake depth and location.The Water Authority said the national water system remained under control and that Mekorot was immediately increasing production from all available sources. “According to current estimates, some desalination plants will resume operations soon,” the authority said, adding that professional teams were closely monitoring water quality.Lifshitz said the immediate pressure was being felt mainly by consumers of fresh water in the south.“Those suffering at the moment are those consuming fresh water in the southern region,” he said.Asked why the shutdowns had not been disclosed earlier, Lifshitz said desalination plants are periodically taken offline for maintenance or other problems, though he acknowledged that the current incident was unusual. He noted that the Ashkelon plant had previously been shut because of pollution originating from Gaza without attracting public attention.Hadera produces about 120 million to 130 million cubic meters of water annually. The combined annual capacity of the plants currently offline is about 750 million cubic meters, excluding Sorek B at full capacity. That means only about 15% to 17% of the country’s normal annual desalination output is currently operating.The most serious effects are being felt in southern Israel, where pipeline capacity limits the amount of water that can be redirected from other parts of the country. Authorities are prioritizing household drinking water over agriculture and landscaping while increasing pumping from the Sea of Galilee and groundwater wells.Northern Israel has not been significantly affected because it relies more heavily on the Sea of Galilee and groundwater. Farmers using treated wastewater are also largely unaffected. The restrictions primarily affect southern farmers who depend on fresh, largely desalinated water.Irrigating fields in the Negev (Photo: Meir Azoulay)The Eshkol Regional Council told farmers and landscaping crews to immediately reduce freshwater consumption. “Use of water for gardening and agriculture at this stage could harm the supply of water for domestic consumption and drinking,” the council warned, while noting that treated wastewater could still be used.In Ramat Negev, agricultural freshwater use was stopped entirely for several hours. Council head Eran Doron instructed residents to reduce irrigation of private gardens and public spaces as much as possible, while stressing that drinking water supplies were not currently expected to be affected.“All relevant authorities are working to maintain a continuous supply of drinking water,” the council said.Amit Yifrach, secretary-general of the Moshavim Movement and chairman of the Israel Farmers Association, warned that prolonged water cuts could cause significant damage to crops in the Negev and southern Israel, particularly vegetables and orchards.“We understand the need to prioritize drinking water, but cutting water to agriculture, especially in the Negev and the south, could cause real damage to crops and farmers’ livelihoods,” he said. “Water for agriculture is not a luxury. It is a condition for Israel’s food security.”