Yarkon River
Yarkon in Tel Aviv
The Yarkon (Hebrew נחל הירקון Nachal Hayarkon ) is a 28 km long, year round water-bearing river in Israel, which springs at Rosh haAjin and flows into the Mediterranean near Tel Aviv. He is the most water of all Mediterranean coastal rivers of Israel. " Yarkon " in Hebrew means about " the greenish ". Its Arabic name is Al-' Uja what " the Meandering " means.
Headwaters
The Yarkon Springs next Rosh haAjin. He is one of the few rivers in Israel, which are available year round water-bearing. " Year-round water-bearing " can also mean that in late summer only a trickle remains, but this does not apply to the Yarkon. The headwaters of the river has a length of 7 km and is characterized by a high water quality.
A few hundred meters after the source of the river is dammed by a dam and removed some of the water for drinking water supply. The overflow of the dam is fed back into the river, a minimum flow in the river bed is guaranteed for conservation reasons.
At the headwaters of the Yarkon National Park Yarkon Afek is set up, a popular recreation destination with several historical and archaeological sites.
Middle reaches
The river crosses the city areas of Petah Tikva, Hod haScharon, Ramat haScharon Bnei Brak and. The river meanders greatly because of moderate height difference. Many meander in the form of the Greek letter Omega.
Underflow
In the 4 km long underflow water of the Yarkon is increasingly brackish, as salt water enters from the Mediterranean. The river course meanders less than in the middle reaches, on the banks of the city of Tel Aviv Yarkon Park is created. North of the city center, between Tel Aviv and Ramat Aviv, opens the Yarkon near the power plant into the Mediterranean.
Inflows
The tributaries of the Yarkon are, from source to mouth:
- Raba from right
- Kana from right
- Hadar from right
- Shiloh from left
- Pardes from right
- Aijalon from left
The inflows are all wadis, so do not carry water all year.
Economic Importance
As a year-round water-bearing river with a strong spring of the Yarkon was for centuries an important source of water for agriculture. In the Ottoman Empire had plantation owners, the direct Yarkon residents were to remove the right to build their own pumping stations and water for their plantations directly from the Yarkon.
The Yarkon is one of the few rivers in Israel, which were used as a waterway.
Until the fifties the average flow rate was approximately 200 cubic meters / hour. Due to an erected at the source water intake work this amount of water has been massively reduced.
For recreation and tourism is the Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv and the Yarkon Afek National Park at the source of meaning. The Israel National Trail follows the river along its entire length.
Flora and Fauna
A large part of the water in the river was until recently from waste water, which resulted in a massive pollution.
In recent years, the river was gradually rehabilitated. Today, the water quality has already improved, and the local flora and fauna recaptured the river.