Urban river park: Na'aman estuary Enrichment and expansion of the salt marsh, Tel Akko, the old city, the urban fabric of the city of Acre beach and the river southwards, towards the river The beach will be opened to the Integration of El-Barbur Communities Basin management public, providing pedestrian community into the growth and continuity and valuable recreation densification of the city: creation space. A pedestrian promenade of a development typology connecting the river estuery, the integrating the river into Planned residential Ecohydrological function beach and the old city eill be community space construcred development Acre The northern fish ponds of Tel Akko Kibbutz Ein Hamifratz will be Human components transformed into industrial fish farms. The excess ponds will Industry and serve as purification ponds and commerce zone as wetlands, restoring the Public perception of the Na'amin Cultural Center The Bahá’í historical marshlands Gardens River corridor river Rehabilitation and in Acre restoration of the unique Na'aman estuary salt marsh, creating an attractive habitat Enrichment and expansion of Nature reserve Role of the river in its for waterbirds the urban fabric of the city of Acre northwards, towards the environs river; increased value and Points of interest desirability of the area thanks to rehabilitation of the river and its environs Ecohydrological rehabilitation of the nature reserve Na'aman River will be restored to its historical Nature reserve route and connected to the Increased value of the planned Na’aman estuary kibbutz that will expand towards it. The river will residential development by become an integral part of virtue of ecological and Kibbutz H ik local identity a landscape restoration of the Ein HaMifratz z o The southern fish ponds estuary's salt marshes n st of Kibbutz Ein HaMifratz re will be transformed into a Kibbutz Ein Hamifratz will grow m a flood retention area, towards the river and the river to protect the city of will be restored to its historical Acre from flood risk route, turning Ein HaMifratz into 4 Hig A continuous river path, a "kibbutz by the river" and the connected to existing trails and river into an integral part of creating an uninterrupted h riverside recreation and community life w commuting route from Acre to a y Haifa Bay The fish ponds of Kibbutz Kfar ( Masarik will thrive, providing A c ecological and recreational r e Na'aman River will be restored benefits as well as agricultural R to its historical route and production o a connected to the kibbutz that d Kibbutz Derech Akko will be converted to a local commerce route will expand towards it. The river ) Kfar Masarik will become an integral part of local identity Kibbutz Kfar Masaryk will grow towards the river and the river will be restored to its historical route, Urban river park turning Kfar Masaryk into a "kibbutz Ein Nimfit Nature The park will connect the by the river" and the river into an Reserve different parts of the city of integral part of community life Acre with Tel Akko, the old city, Ein Nimfit Park: based on the last vestiges of the beach and the river Miluot the Kurdani Marshes, Milouot industrial area will receive Industrial commercial business fitting to and a park rich with The Bahá’í Gardens in Acre enjoying the nearness of the river area aquatic habitats that provides nature-based and Ein Nimfit Park. The Rehabilitation and recreation restoration of the unique commercial activity will enhance the visitor experience Na'aman estuary salt marsh Connection to the regional and The Na'aman estuary salt “Na'amin” Cultural Center Milouot industrial area will national road marsh will become an transform into a green-tech, A center for cultural system attractive public space that agri-tech and recreation center interaction and activity in uplifts the region oriented towards the river Ecohydrological the unfolding urban park rehabilitation to restore the river's condition to match the already-restored sections upstream and H i downstream g h w Karei-Na'aman path The "mountain of waste" will be a y rehabilitated and transformed The fish ponds of Kibbutz ) 22 into a butterfly garden Lohamei HaGeta'ot - ad cessation of water extraction Coastal shore Floating trail system Ro from the river and waste The beach will be discharge into it The Na'aman estuary salt re opened to the marsh trail system will Ac The southern fish ponds ( public, providing float above the beautiful of Kibbutz Lohamei el 4 Zur Shalom pedestrian to Karmi Railway wetlands y HaGeta'ot will be continuity and a Industrial transformed into an valuable 4 Karei-Na'aman Nature w area ecological park open to h Reserve - preserving a g recreation space ay i 42 channel the public w piece of the Kurdani H Connecting the urban Marshes (closed to promanade to visitors) High Karei-Na'aman path - a direct connection Na'aman River path between city residents The path will connect the the river Ecological enhancement of different parts of the city El-Barbur Canal 42: connecting Zur of Acre, including the old Runoff retention neighborhood, Acre Shalom in Kiryat Bialik to Canal Zur Shalom city, the coastal shore 42 and through it to the reservoir and the Na'aman River, The El-Barbur Neighborhood community, suffering Na'aman River and the creating a continuous regional-metropolitan river trail K. Bialik and important park in Acre's southern residential district from frequent the city of Acre and the A new residential district will be flooding and lack of infrastucture, will Western Galilee developed on the southern side of Neot Afeka the Na'aman River, separated from move to new, the current city by the mouth of the permanent riverside Neighborhood river. The new development will neighborhood above K. Bialik Na'aman River become highly desirable by virtue of flood level Beach path the ecological and landscape Connecting the Hil Sands Park restoration of the estuary's salt azo new El-Barbur K. Motzkin marshes. n Str neighborhood to ea m Urban runoff retention Kibbutz Ein HaMifratz space, serving as a recreation area K. Bialik 22 y A path connecting to a the Gdora Stream trail w gh i H Afek Nature Reserve: increase of spring water discharge to the river A new nature reserve based on the disused fish ponds of Kibbutz Afek, restoring lost marsh habitat Restoring the Na'aman River's stream channel to a natural, ecohydrological form and creating the Na'aman River Nature Reserve An urban promenade at the edge of the nature reserve, orienting the city of Kiryat Bialik towards the river and instilling the river in local identity Reviving the Na’aman: Renaissance of River, People and Sea The project area River Length: 11 km The Na'aman River: an integral piece of agriculture and for the development of kibbutz role of rivers in the landscape began to take hold the history of the northern Haifa Bay. settlements - Kfar Masaryk and Ein HaMifratz - west in Israel, in which the river is seen as an important of the river. natural open space with environmental, ecological Acre The Na’aman River is a perennial estuarian stream, Drainage of the Na’aman marshes dramatically and recreational values. This conceptual shift led to Acre port flowing for 11 kilometers at the periphery of Acre the development of a master plan for the Na’aman Na'aman Estuary Kibbutz transformed the landscape and minimized the Ein HaMifratz Valley: from Afek Springs northwards to its estuary, river’s presence. What was once a wide and River, paving the way for the first attempts to restore Kfar Masarik forming the boundary between the agricultural and Ein Nimfit winding river flowing through marshes became it to its former glory. However, the environmental Hilazon basin urban fabrics and pouring into the Mediterranean sqkm 271 a deep, straightened drainage channel, detached restoration focused narrowly on the river channel Sea just south of Acre. The river’s basin is a mosaic itself, perpetuating the disconnect between the river from its surroundings. This scenic, ecological and Q. Bialik of diverse scenery, ecosystems, communities and morphological change distanced the river from the and the adjacent human environment. cultures. In the past, the river and its environs were public eye and awareness of its existence slowly faded an extensive swampland (the Kurdani Marsh) whose from the consciousness of its adjacent communities Acre, the city by the river and the sea Ein Afek presence shaped land use in the area. Historically, - Kiryat Bialik, Kfar Masaryk, Ein HaMifratz and Acre. Na’aman basin the river was closely associated with the city of Acre, The city of Acre, just north of the river’s estuary, sqkm 70 Residential and commercial development in the area a once-important port city and strategic stronghold has preserved its cultural diversity and historical Flood Plain “turned their backs” on the stream, and it was treated for empires through the ages. richness but struggled socioeconomically - the city is by the industrial factories, urban environment and ranked in cluster 4 out of a possible 10 in the national intensive agriculture in its vicinity as a neglected socioeconomic index. Though Acre is a mixed city of Guiding principle for selection of the proposed preservation of significant, high-quality natural open space that The taming of the river. backyard and unseen dumping ground. Jews, Muslims and Christians, these demographic river environs provides a range of ecosystem services to the residents of the Jewish settlement in the 1940s had a significant populations tend to segregate from one another Acre Valley and the Haifa metropolitan area. impact on the river’s environs and its public image.