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Updated: 19/01/2005
The 70-kilometer long Kishon River, which drains an area of 1100 square kilometers, starts in the Gilboa mountains, flows through the Jezreel Valley and empties into the sea at Haifa. The final 7 kilometers of the lower reaches of the river have been plagued, for dozens of years, by heavy pollution which originates in both industrial effluents and municipal wastewater. In this section, the river was transformed into a receptacle for the pollutants of several of the country's most polluting industrial plants including the oil refineries, petrochemical and fertilizer plants, sewage treatment plants and agricultural runoff. Analyses carried out on sediments in the river found high concentrations of a wide range of pollutants, including heavy metals, originating in the industrial effluents which had been discharged into the river for decades. Recognition of the dire quality of Kishon River waters led to several initiatives over the past decade: ecological and planning surveys were carried out, a masterplan was prepared and approved, Haifa's wastewater treatment plant was upgraded, and an interministerial committee to determine water quality in the long and medium range and to establish effluent emission standards completed its work. The aim of all these activities was to remove sewage and effluents from the river in order to facilitate ecological restoration. But the most important breakthrough came as a result of a major enforcement campaign spearheaded by the Ministry of the Environment against seven large industrial plants in the environs of the river. The plants were required to abide by both the Water Law and the Prevention of Sea Pollution by Land-Based Sources Law. Although they had traditionally discharged their effluents to the Kishon River with impunity, they are now required to apply for a permit to discharge their wastes and to fully comply with the stringent conditions of the permit. The permits are granted by an interministerial permits committee which is charged with supervising and enforcing all land-based sources of marine pollution in Israel. As a result of these requirements, all of the plants have established facilities for the treatment of all of their wastes to the level of brines by the end of 2001. Furthermore, monitoring results in recent years have confirmed significant improvements in river water quality. By January 1, 2002, the pollution load from the industrial plants had been drastically reduced, by as much as 90% and the destructive acidity (pH) which had characterized the river for dozens of years had disappeared. Today, discharge to the river is largely made up of brines, some enriched by nitrogen and phosphorus. Plans are also on the drawing board for transforming the river into a tourist attraction, replete with small harbor and fishing boats. A three-kilometer section of the river upstream, in the Kiryat Tivon area (between the Jezreel and Zevulun Valleys), has been rehabilitated to serve as a park including ponds, trails, playgrounds, and grassy areas. Another park has been established in the lower reaches of the Kishon in 2001 adjacent to the fishing harbor. Additional sections will be added in the future and will eventually form a continuous park along the entire length of the riverbank. These efforts have succeeded in transforming a once dead river into a river in which life exists at a limited scale. The results are directly attributed to the investment of major resources - some $120 million by industrial plants and another $10 by Haifa?s municipal wastewater treatment plant.
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