High seawater turbidity causes shutdown of five desalination plants in Israel, impacting vegetable crops in Nitzana.

These microalgae are small enough to penetrate the filters used by the desalination plants. This shutdown affected approximately 20,000 dunams of vegetable crops in Nitzana, an area that produces roughly 2 million tons of vegetables. Farmers in the region depend on desalinated water for 80 to 90 per cent of the water supply. Growers recently completed planting tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and eggplants, and the crops currently require approximately 1,500 cubic meters of irrigation water per hour. However, the Mekorot water corporation supplied between 300 and 500 cubic meters per hour during the disruption. Following the shutdowns, Mekorot instructed that fresh water supplies to farmers in southern Israel were halted. The Water Authority and Mekorot also instructed local authorities to reduce water use in public spaces, such as the irrigation of gardens and lawns. Domestic water remains safe to drink.