TITLE:
The 30th Anniversary of the Hula Reclamation Project: Profitable Agricultural Management Not Threatening Kinneret Water Quality
AUTHORS:
Moshe Gophen
KEYWORDS:
Hula Valley, Drainage, Reclamation Project, TP, TN
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Modern Hydrology,
Vol.14 No.4,
October
30,
2024
ABSTRACT: Until 1957, the Hula Valley was covered by swampy wetlands and a shallow lake, Lake Hula. In the 1950s, the valley was drained and 6000 ha of land was converted to agricultural development. Seven years later, the National Water Carrier was inaugurated, granting the only natural freshwater lake in Israel, Kinneret, a national drinking water reservoir function. Agricultural cultivation in the Hula Valley faced significant challenges. A reclamation project, the “Hula Project” (HP), was implemented. Thirty (1994-2024) years of HP management are summarized. TP and TN migration data from the Hula Valley southward into Lake Kinneret was approved as not threatening its water quality. During 40 years of post-drainage period underground fire, heavy dust storms were frequently followed by soil subsidence. Nevertheless, as a result of the HP renovated management, those nuisances faded away and significantly declined. Immediately after drainage, as a result of organic Peat oxidation, a great stock of nitrates in the upper layers was formed. Since the mid-1990s, when nitrogen deficiency was developed and Cyanobacteria replaced the bloom-forming Peridinium dominancy, surplus nitrate input has not threatened Kinneret water quality. The hydrological-eco-touristic component of the reclamation project (HP), Lake Agmon-Hula (LAH) became a successful tourist attraction and also an additional nutrient source through submerged vegetation. Two Peat soil areas of land have been denied: the central and the eastern blocks. Soil moisture enhancement, especially that of the Peat soil block, initiated the lowering of the TP migration range and consequently extra water allocation was assigned for summer irrigation (the “Peat Convention Agreement”). Surface, underground seepage and river discharge flows of freshwaters from the Golan Heights into the Hula valley diluted the concentration of migrated TP concentration contributed by the eastern Peat block.