Nahal Alexander is a 32-km river that flows from the West Bank city of Shechem (Nablus), passes by Tul-Karem, crosses the Hefer Valley, passing near the coastal city of Netanya before reaching the Mediterranean Sea.
The Beit Yannai coast is close to where the Alexander River empties into the Mediterranean Sea.
North of the beach are remnants of a quay constructed in 1938 (during the British Mandate period), on the pretext that it was needed to unload fertilizer for the neighboring orchards.
In reality, the quay was built so that the clandestine Jewish immigrants to Palestine (ma'apilim) could moor their boats on the shore.
The Alexander River is one of the few riverbeds on the coastal plain that has water all year long.
A master plan to restore the river was put together by architect Amos Brandeis, with the focus being to treat the problems in the river's drainage basin.
One of the projects is the emergency reservoir for purification of wastewater, established next to Kibbutz Yad Hanna, in the western approaches to Tul-Karem. The other is the project for restoration of the riverbanks.
Part of the purified water from the Yad Hanna reservoir is taken for agricultural use and part is returned to Alexander River, now no longer a wastewater canal.
Nutrias have returned to live in the river, alongside a large variety of waterfowl.
A large population of soft-shelled turtles (Trionyx triunguis) existed in Nahal Alexander, but a big flood destroyed most of the population in 1993.
However, about 50 individuals have survived and still breed there.
Soft-shelled turtles can measure 1.20 meters and weigh 50 kilograms.
