Breaking Update
Government approved: National Outline Plan for flood management is underway!
Israel's government has approved a National Outline Plan for flood management, integrating hydrological considerations into all planning and construction.
Dr. David Assaf, Senior Deputy Director General for Environmental Resource Management: “The approval of the plan today is a nationally important message that will allow it to begin to take shape on the ground. This is a central pillar in the long-term management of flood and inundation risks, against the backdrop of climate change and development momentum. For the first time, we have created a binding planning framework that integrates hydrological considerations and runoff management from the outset of every planning and construction process, thereby ensuring strategic protection for both stream areas and the urban space.”
Director General of the Planning Administration, Rafi Elmaliach: “This is a program of great national importance whose purpose is to deal with the challenges of urban runoff and reduce the risk of flooding in built-up areas across the country. The program addresses the issue of flooding, both by preserving areas for runoff regulation sites, and by strengthening the status of streams and their surroundings. In addition, the program adopts a holistic, systemic, and long-term view of the flooding issue, which we are encountering more and more. Runoff management is currently at the forefront of national challenges, and this is reflected in the extensive work of the Planning Administration through several significant programs that have recently been approved and are being promoted these days. The program approved today is a central pillar in a broad array of actions and programs currently being promoted by the Planning Administration to improve urban resilience and protect human life, infrastructure, and property.”
After three years of joint work, the government approved today (Sunday) the National Outline Plan for Flood Management, initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Planning Administration. The purpose of the new plan is to define and preserve the hydrological infrastructure of the state of Israel, and to preserve the necessary areas, including areas adjacent to streams that are occasionally flooded, and runoff regulation sites. In addition, the plan establishes a protection mechanism for stream areas that serve as natural infrastructure for rainwater flow, in order to reduce the phenomenon of flooding and inundation in development and construction areas. In accordance with the government’s approval, the plan will come into effect immediately and will bind all planning and development bodies in the state of Israel, including: local authorities, regional councils, private planners, and more.
The increase in flooding and inundation events in recent years necessitates a profound change in planning perception. Alongside promoting housing and infrastructure goals, a systematic national response to runoff and drainage risks is required. This reality demands a systemic response with a broad national perspective.
Against this backdrop, the plan was brought last December and approved by the National Council for Planning and Construction, after approximately three years of intensive inter-ministerial work. The plan anchors for the first time a binding framework of principles, rules, and protection zones for runoff management and flood control. As part of its preparation, hydrological analyses were conducted, mapping was carried out to identify areas for regulation sites, and directives were formulated to preserve the functioning of streams from a holistic perspective. In addition, statutory guidelines were established for the protection of streams and floodplains, and binding standards for the integration of runoff management solutions into every future plan, so that the issue becomes an integral part of development policy in Israel.
