At first glance, the Kinneret looks calm, even reassuring. Israel’s only large natural freshwater lake has stabilized after years of fluctuating water levels, standing in contrast to drying reservoirs and shrinking lakes across the globe.
To the casual observer, the lake, also known as the Sea of Galilee, appears to be a rare environmental success story in an era of climate uncertainty.
That stability, however, is neither natural nor guaranteed. It is the product of constant intervention, heavy regulation, and a delicate balancing act overseen by Israel’s water authorities.
Behind the carefully maintained waterline lies a system under constant strain, expected to supply drinking water, sustain agriculture, support ecosystems, and feed the Jordan River, all while absorbing the cumulative effects of intensive human use.
The paradox of the Kinneret is that the more Israel depends on it, the more vulnerable it becomes. Each year, hundreds of millions of cubic meters of water are pumped from the lake, gradually increasing its salinity and altering its ecological composition. Experts warn that without continued oversight and meaningful changes in water management, the reservoir that has long symbolized abundance could become a strategic liability.
Biological imbalance
“The Sea of Galilee now faces a huge problem,” Nadav Tal, a water expert and hydrologist at EcoPeace Middle East, told The Jerusalem Report in a recent interview. “If we do not get a good rainy season, we will be in deep trouble. We’re already in deep trouble, but it will get worse and worse.”
In 2024, Tal said, Israel’s desalination capacity struggled to meet national demand. As a result, around 270 million cubic meters of water were pumped from the Kinneret, marking a 15-year record high.
Moshe Gophen, a limnology and wetlands researcher and one of the foremost experts on the Kinneret and the nearby Hula Valley, also pointed to rising salinity as a major concern. But he emphasized that chemical changes are only part of the story. Another sensitive indicator lies at the very foundation of the lake’s ecosystem.
Phytoplankton, among the most basic and essential components of the Kinneret’s ecological system, has undergone a dramatic transformation over recent decades, Gophen told the Report.
The draining of the Hula Valley, situated to the west of the Kinneret, and subsequent changes in land use altered the type of nitrogen flowing into the lake. As a result, the once-dominant algae, Peridinium, were gradually replaced by cyanobacteria, which can be toxic and are significantly harder to remove during water treatment.
Both issues – salinity and biological imbalance – can be addressed through careful monitoring and management, and Israel has taken steps to do so. Still, experts stress that further changes in water usage and infrastructure are necessary.
According to Gophen, much of the salt entering the Kinneret does not originate from evaporation or surface runoff but from underground saline springs beneath the lake bed. Rainwater seeps deep into the surrounding geological layers, dissolves salts, and eventually resurfaces within the lake itself. As water levels rise, so too does the lake’s salt content.
Wildlife challenge
This process is partially mitigated by flushing water out of the lake. But, as Tal explained, when the National Water Carrier pumps large quantities of water from the Sea of Galilee, saline inflows continue unabated. As salt seeps through the lake bed, “the more water we take, the more salty the lake becomes.”
“That is why we need to be very careful when we take water out of the Kinneret,” Tal said.
These changes, from rising salinity to shifts in phytoplankton composition, ripple through the lake’s ecosystem, reshaping the conditions for life beneath its surface. As water quality changes, so too does the Kinneret’s ability to sustain the species that depend on it, turning its wildlife into an early warning for environmental stress already underway.
Gophen said the Kinneret is home to many different forms of life, such as native freshwater fish like tilapia, as well as fish that were introduced from elsewhere, such as European eel, carp, and mullet. He added that tiny organisms called zooplankton, which are essential to the lake’s food chain, are especially sensitive to changes in water quality and seasonal shifts in temperature.
Tal pointed to the otter as one of the most telling indicators of the lake’s health, reflecting broader pressures on freshwater habitats in and around the Kinneret.
“The otter is the main indicator of water quality,” he said. “We used to see a lot of otters in the area, but now it’s really rare.”
These and other species depend on large quantities of high-quality water to maintain stable populations. If the lake deteriorates, much of the region’s wildlife could be lost.
“We count on the lake for Jordan River rehabilitation because without more fresh water coming down the Jordan River, we’re going to lose species because pollution is continuing, from treated wastewater and wastewater from Jordan,” Tal said.
Desalination capacity
To reduce pressure on the Kinneret, Israel is increasingly looking beyond the lake itself. Central to that effort, Tal said, is the continued expansion of desalination capacity.
“The Water Authority has these water master plans that will maintain the sea level in a good state and good quality,” he said.
Those plans focus on reducing reliance on the Kinneret while bringing in additional desalination plants.
“We’re counting on a new desalination plant that’s supposed to be built in the western Galilee that will supply water to the eastern side of northern Israel and the Galilee,” Tal said, adding, “That should provide a solution to the problem.”
Looking ahead, Tal said that future generations must “always manage the Sea of Galilee like it’s a kind of bath. You need to control the quantity and quality of water for many different mechanisms and parameters that change over time.”
Evolving challenges, both experts stressed, demand ongoing vigilance. The Kinneret is not in immediate crisis. While lakes around the world are drying up or shrinking dramatically due to climate change, Gophen described such a scenario for the Sea of Galilee as “science fiction.”
However, that does not mean that new threats will not emerge, or that existing ones will not intensify if left unaddressed. For this reason, Israel’s Water Authority maintains a dedicated unit responsible solely for managing the lake.
Stability, in the case of the Kinneret, is not a given. It is the result of sustained expertise, constant oversight, and a refusal to become complacent. The future of Israel’s most important freshwater reservoir depends on maintaining that vigilance.■