Overview of Middle East Water Resources
Surface Water
Yarqon River
The Yarqon River drains a broad portion of the Mediterranean
watershed from the western Mountain Belt
and across the Coastal Plain. The Yarqon watershed
receives relatively heavy rainfall and has moderate
temperatures. Average rainfall over this basin for
1961-97 is 611 mm, or about 1,000 MCM over the
entire watershed and 582 MCM at the gaging
station. The Yarqon River drains some of the most
densely populated areas of the region, including Tel
Aviv-Yafo. The quality of water in the Yarqon River
has been negatively impacted for the last several
decades by diversion of the river's source waters to
the National Water Carrier and by the discharge of
treated wastewater to the stream. However, major
efforts over the last several years have led to
increased streamflow and marked improvements in
the river's water quality and ecosystem functions.
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Yarqon River near Tel Aviv-Yafo
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Flow characteristics of the Yarqon River have been
measured since 1941 at Herzlia Road, where the
drainage area is only 953 km 2 . At this location,
the stream typically flows only during December
through March in most years. Flows have never
been observed from June through September, as
shown in the graph of monthly flow volumes to the
right. The largest observed flood on the Yarqon
River occurred on November 9, 1955 (1956 water
year), and had a peak discharge of 508 m3/s. The
maximum observed annual flow volume, associated
with a series of large storms, occurred in 1992.
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Hydrographs. Left: Median annual volume by watershed. Right: Annual volume, 1941-96.
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Water Data Banks Project,
Multilateral Working Group on Water Resources,
Middle East Peace Process
Overview of Middle East Water Resources
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