(live in ecological mouth) - The municipality of Haifa for generations has been neglecting Nahal Saadia, for many years, perhaps since forever... And here, about a week ago, during September 2022, the municipality of Haifa, in cooperation with the Kishon Drainage and Rivers Authority, won 2.5 million NIS, as part of a call that was published jointly by the ministry Agriculture and the Ministry of Environmental Protection The purpose of the appeal is to preserve, restore and make Nahal Saadia accessible to the public.
The Haifa Municipality stated that the budget will enable a holistic, long-term response to the treatment of hazards along the stream, comprehensive ecological restoration and making the unique stream accessible to the general public. As part of the submission of the call, the operations manager, the environmental unit and the landscape planning department in the engineering department worked together with the Kishon Drainage and Streams Authority to formulate a long-term work plan for the restoration of the stream.
A surface runoff drain discharges wastewater from the check post
The pure stream water, which comes from the Saadia spring located in the check post, is regularly mixed with sewage water, which drains into the stream from an overhead drainage drain, coming from the check post area. Now that NIS 2.5 million has been allocated for the restoration of the river, the fear is rising among environmental activists that the project will be managed in a way that will not bear results and without public participation. Hila Laufer, a member of the city council, wants the project to be carried out transparently and raises a question to the municipality management.
The query from Hila Lauper to the Haifa City Council regarding the allocation of NIS 2.5 million for the restoration of Nahal Saadia
Eric Drobot, an environmental activist, gave a speech
We congratulate the Haifa municipality for winning this tender, in addition to the 1.5 million NIS approved by the municipality's finance committee (for the benefit of treating the hazards).
Nahal Saadia is a steady stream of rare quality. The cleanest of the coastal streams. In this stream there is a watery ecological space that does not embarrass the Valley of the Springs or the Upper Galilee. The city of Haifa was privileged to receive such a rare ecological area, but until today neglected and abandoned it.
There is a rare opportunity here to rehabilitate and return this stream to the public, but until now no actions have been taken to restore the stream or stop the existing hazards. There seems to be no plan for the distant future.
It seems that in the coming rain all the pollution will return to Saadia, because no actions were taken to prevent it or even to minimize damages.