Israel Reservoir Transparency

For the COVERED subset (~10 main reservoirs/water bodies including Kinneret, Dead Sea, the Arava Valley flood reservoirs and the Mekorot strategic storage published via data.gov.il), data publication is daily for the central resource (Kinneret) and monthly for several others. Daily granularity for >50% of covered (Kinneret alone accounts for ~50% of national surface storage capacity, plus the larger Mekorot strategic reservoirs) places this in the 80-99 band. The Kinneret dataset is updated daily and available via CKAN datastore_search REST endpoint.

data.gov.il runs CKAN, which exposes a documented REST API. The Kinneret dataset is queryable via the datastore_search endpoint with JSON responses and supports pagination. Field names are in English (Survey_Date, Kinneret_Level). CSV bulk download requires Google OAuth IAP authentication at the e.data.gov.il subdomain, introducing friction. The CKAN API itself (datastore_search) works without authentication. Dominant access for the COVERED subset is therefore a documented REST API with open license, placing this in the 60-99 band; not at the top because the auth-gated bulk download and the absence of a dedicated water API specification keep it from full API tier.

Conservative estimate — denominator includes small KKL-JNF agricultural reservoirs and Mekorot operational pools that are not exhaustively published as a live storage dataset (Mekorot publishes Kinneret and the strategic storage but ~230 KKL-JNF agricultural reservoirs and ~1,000 small Mekorot pools are tracked only via Mekorot internal systems or via the annual hydrological yearbook). Methodology v1.3.0 (capacity-weighted). Total Israeli national reservoir storage capacity is approximately 370 hm³ in operationally significant freshwater storage, of which Lake Kinneret operational range (~330 hm³), Arava Valley floodwater reservoirs and three Mekorot strategic reservoirs/cisterns dominate. Adding a conservative estimate of small agricultural/operational reservoir capacity not in the live data.gov.il feed pushes the realistic denominator to approximately 390 hm³. Score = round(100 × 370 / 390) = 95. The principal strategic storage is fully publicly reported; the conservative discount reflects the long tail of small distributed reservoirs.

Median historical depth across the ~10 covered reservoirs comfortably exceeds 20 years, placing this at the top band (100). Kinneret daily water level data on data.gov.il runs from 1966 to present (60 years), with references in dataset metadata to historical measurements back to 1926 (100 years). The Kinneret Limnological Laboratory's monitoring program has run continuously since 1969. Dead Sea monthly levels go back to 1976 with pre-1976 records cited to 1900. Hydrometric station discharge data begins from 1960. The Arava floodwater reservoirs have multi-decade records from the Hydrological Service. This is one of the longest median historical records of any country evaluated.

For the COVERED subset, Kinneret water level data is updated daily and automatically on data.gov.il — confirmed with records dated through 27 May 2026, with readings for consecutive days in May 2026 visible in the API. The Israel Water Authority posts data Sunday through Thursday (5 days/week). Dead Sea levels update monthly automatically. Daily cadence for the largest covered reservoir (Kinneret) and the strategic Mekorot storage places this in the 80-99 band; the monthly cadence for several smaller reservoirs prevents a top score.

The Israel Water Authority has published English-language technical documents on gov.il describing Kinneret monitoring methodology, watershed characteristics, capacity figures and the legal threshold system (upper red line at -208.9m, lower red line at -213.18m, black line at -214.4m). The Kinneret's total storage capacity (~4,400 MCM) and operational management rules are documented in academic literature citing Water Authority sources. The Hydrological Service has published annual reports since 1970. Methodology PDFs are hosted on gov.il in a folder labeled 'water-authority-data-english' but are not systematically linked from the data.gov.il dataset pages themselves, requiring some effort to locate.

The data.gov.il portal interface is primarily in Hebrew with some bilingual search functionality. Critically, the Kinneret dataset's API field names are in English (Survey_Date, Kinneret_Level), making the data directly machine-readable in English. English-facing dashboards exist (forecast.israelinfo.co.il/kineret, israelweather.co.il) pulling from the same government source and offering full English display. The Israel Water Authority publishes a curated series of English-language technical PDF reports on gov.il. Dataset descriptions, metadata and the data portal UI are predominantly Hebrew. Practical English accessibility exists but requires routing through third-party interfaces or direct API use.