3. Ecological Sustainability: The Development Plan envisions the Wadi watershed as one comprehensively considered, integrated system of ground water, stormwater, and treatment plant resources. The principal of ecological sustainability for this desert environment means that the people of Riyadh must make better use of locally available natural resources. The Wadi must be made capable of constant regeneration so that the Living Wadi can be passed on to future generations.

Key Recommendations

1. The New Wadi Hanifah Reserve Directorate: The Wadi Hanifah lands fall under the jurisdiction of an assortment of authorities: the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, Municipality of Riyadh, Presidency of Meteorology & Environment, Riyadh Water and Sewage Department, and the Police Force. The Comprehensive Development Plan recommends the formation of a new management structure - the Wadi Hanifah Reserve Directorate - to assume responsibility and management of the Wadi Hanifah and its tributaries. The Wadi Hanifah Reserve Directorate would guide the type, scale and pace of restoration and development throughout the watershed, coordinate with overlapping jurisdictions, establish standards for environmental quality, monitor conditions, enforce protection measures, create an environmental database, and provide public education.

2. Naturalized Landscapes: Strategies for improving the health of the Wadi are based upon natural features and processes that are part of the desert's self-regenerating eco-system. One of the major recommendations is to reprofile and regrade the main watercourse to return it to a more natural state which would facilitate flood control and discourage invasive native grasses. A series of naturalized landscapes would be created on publicy-owned wastelands along the water's edge with water features and indigenous trees, grasses, and shrubs. These naturalized landscapes would stabilize riverbanks and deter the migration of contaminants from urbanized areas.