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Wed, 10 Feb 2010 | 01:27 GMT
Wed, Feb 10, 2010, 01:27 GMT
 

Critics question usefullness of dams in Lebanon

 The Daily Star
 
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12 October 2009

BEIRUT: The image of Lebanon as a green country with abundant water resources is an illusion that today could not be further from the truth. In reality, this pre-Civil War image has become nothing more than a faded myth that serves only to blind public concern about the state of the country’s fresh water resources. As tap water becomes increasingly salty to the taste in Beirut, where summer water shortages have become commonplace and where a private business in basic drinking water is booming, one fact stands out glaringly clear: Lebanon no longer has the luxury to ignore proper management of its freshwater resources as demand for water in the country steadily rises, while the amount of freshwater steadily decreases.

“In the Middle East, we have abundant water resources relative to our neighbors. But compare Lebanon to a European country, and the picture becomes startlingly different. We are wasting much of what little we have left,” explains hydrogeologist Issam Boujaoude.

One solution proposed to tackle Lebanon’s water problem is dams, as part of an Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) plan spearheaded by Fadi Comair, the director general of the Energy and Water MinistryEnergy and Water MinistryLoading... who largely manages supply-side water management initiatives. It seems simple enough, but a statement by Comair at the end of July announcing the initiative to build 27 new dams of various volumes across Lebanon sparked controversy across several fields of expertise.

Both economically and ecologically, there are many experts who heavily question whether dams are the best solution to Lebanon’s water shortage. “I am not against building dams; I am against building dams before being sure it is the most appropriate solution, after investigating and evaluating other alternatives.

“I have seen no substantial evidence that this has been done,” a source working closely with the Energy and Water MinistryEnergy and Water MinistryLoading... confided to The Daily Star.

According to several critics, the lack of basic data to calculate the demand for water in Lebanon, such as population data, inidicates the weakness of any completed studies or projections that would evaluate the dams’ capacity to resolve a severe water shortage expected to hit Lebanon by 2020. Without a national apparatus conducting a water census, monitoring its usage, and evaluating impacts on supply from land-based activities, economic shifts, or population migrations, the resource management mantra “you cannot manage what you cannot measure” is at the root of many critiques.

According to the World Commission on Dams report in the year 2000, dam projects around the world also normally go over budget, and with budgets in the millions of dollars, dissidents argue that these extra costs cannot be taken lightly. While building dams does open up jobs in engineering, technical consulting, and construction, in a small country like Lebanon where the public debt is already at $ 47 billion, the challenge remains for the ministry to prove just how much the Lebanese public will actually gain from the operation of the new dams with a cost-benefit ratio on the basis of hard data.

While the construction of dams can give a short-term boost to the economy, in the long-term, a source close to the ministry told The Daily Star that “time has shown that Lebanon cannot maintain and manage projects like this alone,” meaning that future maintenance implies another cost to consider.

In defense of the initiative, the new dams would be smaller in size and capacity than the existing Chabrouh or Qaraoun dams, and according to the IWRM approach, their construction would be coupled with simultaneous upgrades to a water network that loses anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of the water that passes through them, depending on who calculates the estimate.

As agriculture comprises roughly 70 percent of Lebanon’s water use, the use of dams to increase water supply for irrigation is another strong argument that supports their construction. However, managing the demand for water instead of its supply – through imposing drip irrigation or by increasing farmers’ motivation to save water by increasing the utility cost of water – is another solution. Both agriculturally and domestically “installing water meters to bill people for how much water they use would cause people to begin taking their own actions to conserve water,” says Arab Federation for Environmental Development Secretary General Nabil Saab. “Giving water economic value will also increase public respect for the resource, and spark interest in new methods for using the resource more conservatively.”

Another winning argument for dams is their capacity to generate electricity. The Qaraoun Dam in West Bekaa alone meets 10 percent of Lebanon’s power needs through hydroelectric power. Nonetheless, dams which generate electricity are referred to as “hydrodams,” and only approximately five of the new dams will fall into this category. Even if more dams were to be used for generating hydroelectricity, there are some experts in hydrology who question the necessity of a dam for generating electricity from the force of water. “Why not use modern technology to place the turbine directly in the river? The power of the river current will turn the turbine and generate electricity, eliminating the need for a dam, while providing us with a solution that is also much cheaper,” suggests Mark Saadeh, hydrogeologist, academic researcher, and consultant to the Litani River Authority as head of its Environmental Unit. “Geologists and environmentalists do not even have a syndicate where we can be consulted on such projects … doctors and engineers are not experts on the environment, geology, or ecology,” he adds.

Saadeh also highlights that rather ironically, as Lebanon faces the decision of whether or not to build more dams, nations like the United States and Germany are beginning to question the virtues of their dam projects built in the past.

“It’s difficult to imagine that we are considering building dams in Lebanon at a time when other countries are considering tearing them down,” Saadeh warns.

Other hydrogeologists quip that there would be no reason to invest in tearing dams down later in Lebanon, because nature alone could do it. “The geological character of Lebanon is karstic,” notes Boujaoude, explaining that “this means that the rock here allows water to pass through it easily over time, which explains Lebanon’s unique and natural phenomenon of vast cave networks. This is a great challenge for building a dam that will not leak.” He underlined his assertion with the fact that the Chabrouh dam, completed only two short years ago, is already leaking, at a rate of what he estimates to be 250 liters per second. The water is flowing back towards the village of Faraya.

When asked about the leak, Comair asserted that this amount of water is “under the international acceptable allowance for the leakage of a dam,” adding: “Even the famous Hoover dam in the United States leaks.” In response to other criticisms being thrown the ministry’s way, Comair also protested that all of the ministry’s decisions have been based on studies conducted by “qualified consultancy groups, including world renowned international companies.”

Information collected from studies compiled over the last 50 years provide data that is compelling enough for Comair and his international partners in the IWRM project to be convinced of the value of building dams in Lebanon, and he stresses the daunting complexity and comprehensive nature of Lebanon’s water problem, which extends “beyond the scope of only one field.”

“All of the data we have is not possible to disclose; we are basing some of our decisions on data that is confidential,” Comair asserts, adding that “I am working hard for the future of Lebanon through a variety of projects, which also include better education about water in schools, to change the water culture in this country, and build awareness about the reality we are now facing.”

Regardless of how one feels about dams, the conclusion is that Lebanon’s water problem extends far beyond them. As long as the division of the ministry managing water supply and water demand remains split, it is the level of coordination between the two divisions that will be a determinate factor in how successfully the overall problem is addressed. It is also the duty of the Lebanese people to wake up from the dream of a water-rich Lebanon, to become more aware of the impacts of their lifestyle, to stand up for their rights and recognize their responsibilities regarding the resource, for it to be managed effectively. Especially as, according to Saadeh, “it may already be too late.”

© Copyright The Daily Star 2009.

 
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