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A picture of the snowless Faraya peak taken on January 6, 2010. (AFP photo)
During a recent press conference, Minister of Energy and Water Gebran Bassil warned of a serious water shortage in the coming weeks. Though he reiterated his ministry’s plans to deal with the crisis, notably through a dam-building project, Bassil noted that the project has not received adequate funding and has yet to be launched, despite having been approved by the parliament several months ago.
Lebanon, a country with ample water resources compared to its Arab neighbors, gets most of its useable water from melting snow. But given the nearly snowless winter last year, combined with the demands of a growing population, the water situation is not looking good, and the Land of the Cedars might face a serious shortage by next month.
But according to environmental NGO Green Line’s Dr. Ali Darwich there has been a shortage for months. “Expecting a water shortage? We’ve had a water crisis since June; just look at areas such as the Bekaa, where people have been buying [water] since last spring,” he told NOW Lebanon. A 2004 study by the Heinrich Boll Foundation showed that the percentage of Lebanon’s population with adequate access to water was as low as 16 percent at the time the research was conducted.
According to the International Development Resource Centre, most of Lebanon’s water is used for irrigation, which, due to inefficiency, leads to an almost 50 percent water loss. Despite initiatives by the Ministry of Agriculture to improve soil and water management and to assist in developing water harvesting and conservation procedures, the problem is not getting any better.
Green Party Vice President Nada Zaarour agrees that mismanagement is the biggest problem for Lebanon’s water sector. “Given Lebanon’s plenitude in natural springs, proper management of the water should provide enough for the entire country, in spite of the limited [snow and rainfall],” she said. “Now, it is a fact that due to global climate change, we will face water scarcity in the Arab world and Mediterranean region, which will be evident from 2010 till 2015, but this doesn’t mean we should forget about our infrastructure,” she said.
“We’ve never seen a government tackle the problem adequately [since the civil war],” noted Darwich, pointing out that the same goes for the problems with the power sector. Rampant urbanization also exacerbates the situation, he said, because cement prevents absorption of rainfall into the water table, meaning rainwater is shunted out to sea. “Because we’re continuously building, there’s seawater intrusion into wells, so there’s an increase in salinity of the well water,” he added.
Though Lebanese law has considered water a public good since 1976, “Anyone who has money can build a well and sell the water,” said Darwich. “Lebanese people aren’t aware of their overconsumption of water.”
Henry Aoun from the CleanSource water and wastewater treatment engineering company agrees. “People see water leaks and they don’t react,” he said, noting that in Lebanon, there is no way of tracking water consumption. “There are no meters in the homes, for water or for electricity, so people have no sense of what they are consuming.” He also said the ageing infrastructure, like Beirut’s canalization structure, which is 50 years old, adds to the problem.
“But there is nothing we can do to change it unless we have money,” he said. “We need private capital – not that we should necessarily privatize the sector, but we need money, and this is why [Minister] Bassil called for support from the private sector during his conference.”
For Zaarour, there needs to be more supervision, regulation and better management of the sector. “The solution is not building dams or drilling wells; the wells are everywhere, but they are inefficiently built and contaminate the water,” she said.
“Of course, it is specifically those water management and water supplying companies that benefit from the situation,” by selling extra water to families in need, “while the poor will suffer the most,” she said.
But given the extent of the problem, Aoun of the CleanSource company argued that sooner or later, everyone will feel the impact. “Bassil is making an estimate when he mentions [a shortage coming in] September or October,” he said, “but the day the water truck doesn’t show up, that’s when we’ll all know.”
“Water is supposed to be a human right,” said Darwich, “But it’s just a jungle in this country. If you have money and power, you can do whatever you want.”
NOW Lebanon was not able to reach the Energy and Water or Agriculture ministers for comment.
Lebanon, a country with ample water resources compared to its Arab neighbors, gets most of its useable water from melting snow. But given the nearly snowless winter last year, combined with the demands of a growing population, the water situation is not looking good, and the Land of the Cedars might face a serious shortage by next month.
But according to environmental NGO Green Line’s Dr. Ali Darwich there has been a shortage for months. “Expecting a water shortage? We’ve had a water crisis since June; just look at areas such as the Bekaa, where people have been buying [water] since last spring,” he told NOW Lebanon. A 2004 study by the Heinrich Boll Foundation showed that the percentage of Lebanon’s population with adequate access to water was as low as 16 percent at the time the research was conducted.
According to the International Development Resource Centre, most of Lebanon’s water is used for irrigation, which, due to inefficiency, leads to an almost 50 percent water loss. Despite initiatives by the Ministry of Agriculture to improve soil and water management and to assist in developing water harvesting and conservation procedures, the problem is not getting any better.
Green Party Vice President Nada Zaarour agrees that mismanagement is the biggest problem for Lebanon’s water sector. “Given Lebanon’s plenitude in natural springs, proper management of the water should provide enough for the entire country, in spite of the limited [snow and rainfall],” she said. “Now, it is a fact that due to global climate change, we will face water scarcity in the Arab world and Mediterranean region, which will be evident from 2010 till 2015, but this doesn’t mean we should forget about our infrastructure,” she said.
“We’ve never seen a government tackle the problem adequately [since the civil war],” noted Darwich, pointing out that the same goes for the problems with the power sector. Rampant urbanization also exacerbates the situation, he said, because cement prevents absorption of rainfall into the water table, meaning rainwater is shunted out to sea. “Because we’re continuously building, there’s seawater intrusion into wells, so there’s an increase in salinity of the well water,” he added.
Though Lebanese law has considered water a public good since 1976, “Anyone who has money can build a well and sell the water,” said Darwich. “Lebanese people aren’t aware of their overconsumption of water.”
Henry Aoun from the CleanSource water and wastewater treatment engineering company agrees. “People see water leaks and they don’t react,” he said, noting that in Lebanon, there is no way of tracking water consumption. “There are no meters in the homes, for water or for electricity, so people have no sense of what they are consuming.” He also said the ageing infrastructure, like Beirut’s canalization structure, which is 50 years old, adds to the problem.
“But there is nothing we can do to change it unless we have money,” he said. “We need private capital – not that we should necessarily privatize the sector, but we need money, and this is why [Minister] Bassil called for support from the private sector during his conference.”
For Zaarour, there needs to be more supervision, regulation and better management of the sector. “The solution is not building dams or drilling wells; the wells are everywhere, but they are inefficiently built and contaminate the water,” she said.
“Of course, it is specifically those water management and water supplying companies that benefit from the situation,” by selling extra water to families in need, “while the poor will suffer the most,” she said.
But given the extent of the problem, Aoun of the CleanSource company argued that sooner or later, everyone will feel the impact. “Bassil is making an estimate when he mentions [a shortage coming in] September or October,” he said, “but the day the water truck doesn’t show up, that’s when we’ll all know.”
“Water is supposed to be a human right,” said Darwich, “But it’s just a jungle in this country. If you have money and power, you can do whatever you want.”
NOW Lebanon was not able to reach the Energy and Water or Agriculture ministers for comment.
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