British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume I - Page 420

CHAPTER X.

Minor pumping schemes along the Na'amein drain will serve to irrigate the adjacent lands which are lower. It is hoped that modern methods of irrigation and agriculture combined with better drainage will produce successful crops in spite of the slight salinity of the water but, if during a period of trial signs of serious deterioration in the soil are observed, then recourse might be had to a scheme of diluting the Na'amein water with sweeter water obtainable from underground sources in the vicinity. The project would bring 15,000 dunums of land under new irrigation; but modification may be necessary if oil refineries in the future take a greater proportion of the water.

Although the Na'amein drain, as so far constructed, has effected a great improvement in this area, it still requires deepening and enlarging. Some of the lands along its banks are not yet completely free from waterlogging and in a suitable condition for agricultural activities. At its lower end, where an industrial district for Acre is planned, the land is too low to be drained by gravity alone and two pumping systems must be installed, one on each side of the main channel.

88. Storage reservoir on the river Qishon. The river Qishon, flowing into the sea north of Haifa, is a small perennial stream which, on sudden occasions after rain in winter, has a fairly high flood discharge in addition to its normal flow. Its course lies mostly through the wide and fertile plain of Esdraelon in which no plentiful supply of water from wells or boreholes has yet been discovered and in which the only springs are a few small ones on the hill sides to the south.

A succesful storage reservoir on the Qisbon should provide sufficient water to irrigate 10,000 dunums, but here as elsewhere a great deal of detailed survey and exploratory work is necessary.

89. Storage reservoir on Wadi Jindas. The Wadi Jindas (in its lower reaches called Wadi Salama, Wadi Kabir or Wadi Musrara) flows down from the bills immediately south of'Lydda and eventually joins the river 'Awja near Tel Aviv. Underground water is in good supply, west of Lydda, but to the east, scarce. The soil is good and the region, being near to the most thickly populated parts of Palestine, is well suited for development.

In the Wadi Jindas in a year of low rainfall such as might occur once in five years the volume of water flowing during the winter, if stored, would irrigate 4,000 or 5,000 dunums throughout the summer. Preliminary investigations have been made for a storage reservoir to the east of Lydda. If research into the physical features of the site and the geological structure is encouraging, construction of a reservoir is contemplated.

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