Northern Israel prepares for season's first heat wave
Farmers fret and tourist sites celebrate in Upper Galilee with temperatures poised to climb weekend before Passover.
Mount Hermon was still covered in snow this week thanks to a relatively cold winter. But weekend rain was not sufficient for agriculture in the Upper Galilee, and irrigation pipes at full intensity on Wednesday.
"First of all, we're talking about localized rain, so some places got 16 millimeters of rain while others got only four millimeters, said Ofer Moskovitz, who is responsible for irrigating crops in five kibbutzim in the Upper Galilee."That means the moisture reaches the seed, causing it to expand and then dry out. That could cause entire fields to be ruined, so there's no choice but to irrigate.
"We have peas that require irrigation now, as well as cotton and watermelons that we planted recently. In the coming days we'll also plant tomatoes and it looks like we'll have to irrigate them right away," said Moskowitz. Orchard farmers were also concerned that the heat wave could damage fruit.
Meanwhile, the river kayaking site at Kfar Blum looked forward to the weekend as the start of the summer, particularly because last year's aridity caused many spots to be closed because of a lack of water.
"The current is great right now, and it'll stay like this for the entire season thanks to the thawing of the snow from the Hermon," said Adi Cohen, the kayaking spot's marketing director.
"The hotter it is outside, the more Israelis want to come and kayak – especially after last year, which was quite difficult," she said. "When there were sunny days this winter people were already calling and asking if they could come kayak. Now we're constantly getting calls, because a lot of people know we start the season in Passover."
The site has been waiting for the local council to approve its opening for the season, and managers hope to see the first visitors on the weekend. The site will begin full operations on Sunday, when Passover break begins.
