In recent winters, repeated floods occurred in Haifa, as in other places in Israel, which caused a lot of damage to property and even to lives. The State Comptroller's report that came out now (19/7/21) regarding the flood damage, presents his conclusions on the subject
From February 2020 to January 2021, the State Comptroller's Office examined aspects related to the management of surface runoff in Israel and the reduction of flood damage.
In the test, the following were tested:
- The normative infrastructure on the subject
- Planning and construction aspects related to the issue of runoff and the establishment of drainage plants
- The budgetary conduct of the drainage authorities, including the aspects of insurance and legal claims for damages
- floods
- and issues related to the layout of the hydrometric stations, the establishment of the flood forecasting center and the drainage of streams flowing from the territories of the Palestinian Authority to the territories of the State of Israel.
Also, the report examined in depth two case studies:
How to deal with the drainage problems in the plan to build the fourth rail in Ayalon, and the flood damage in the winter of 20/2019 at Hazor Air Force Base.
conclusions of the report
The audit revealed that for years the state's conduct in the area of flood damage reduction has been mainly carried out
through the local authorities and drainage authorities operating in various basins throughout the country and is not relied upon
On an integrated vision and nationwide analysis.
It also emerged that there is no single regulator dealing in the area of runoff, and that the issue is split between many governmental and municipal entities with different interests and priorities. As a result, over the years, deficiencies in the drainage infrastructure in Israel have accumulated and the need to examine the allocation of resources to bridge the gap between needs and sources is evident.
Because of this, all the parties responsible for the management of water, runoff, streams, and drainage plants are required, including
The Ministry of Agriculture and the drainage authorities, together with the Water Authority and the Ministry of Finance to act jointly in vision
A nationwide strategy, to reduce the risks and prevent flood damage. Among other things, they must promote
Regulation of all the topics required in the field of drainage, complete the process of mapping the information on a risk rule
the floods, to gather this information to create a national plan for flood risk management with a nationwide perspective, and accordingly to prioritize projects for implementation through a cost versus benefit analysis, and to express this in annual and multi-year plans.
Improving transparency and providing information to the public
They also found that the transparency on the subject and the information given to the public in the field of runoff management and flood prevention should be improved, and in the publication of forecasts, alerts and warnings against weather hazards and floods that could also be used by the emergency bodies.
At the same time, it is necessary to continue to regularly monitor the functioning of the drainage authorities, taking into account the challenges they face, to make sure that they are operating in accordance with their purpose and to examine the national budget allocated to carry out projects in the field of drainage. More than once the damages of the future floods in people and property may be much higher than the costs of the projects required to prevent these floods, therefore there is great value in investing in projects and infrastructures based on full information and their informed prioritization.