• Home
• Power & Utilities
• News Article

Water woes made worse by lack of planning - experts

15 May 2010

Rob Cusack

BEIRUT: A lack of planning for the future and a deficiency of recent data are the main problems facing parliamentarians as they try to tackle the issue of water shortages in Lebanon and the Middle East, according to experts on the topic.

“If we have data, we usually use old data. The statistics are simply not updated and some politicians make speeches [regarding water levels] using old data,” said the dean of the faculty of engineering at St. Joseph’s University, Wajdi Najem.

Najem was one of the main speakers on Friday at a regional forum on water, with parliamentarians from the Arab World and surrounding countries (Turkey and Iran) in attendance. The forum was held at Nijmeh Square in collaboration with the World Water Council.

“In 1975, there were 60 research stations investigating the quantity of available water resources in Lebanon,” Najem said, “and this number was growing to one hundred and fifty stations. However, we find that between 1975 and 2000 this research stopped altogether … as a result of the war.”

Najem spoke out about the potential surplus of water available in parts of the country, but also highlighted the need for new and more effective water resources management techniques, stating simply, “We just don’t know how much water is in our rivers.”

Mark Zeitoun, senior lecturer at the School of International Development in the University of East Anglia in the UK, alluded to the problems of poor water management and deficiencies in infrastructure which he felt stemmed from underfunding.

The World Bank claims that Lebanon’s water supply and sanitation sector is “unable to provide adequate services to the majority of the population.”

Also in attendance was Energy and Water Minister Jibran Bassil, who discussed the resources problems that Lebanon currently faces.

“Theoretically we have a water surplus, but it is just not available,” Bassil said, referring to the infrastructure available to store water in reservoirs and dams.

The minister also promoted ideas for a web-based resource that would encourage international co-operation, which he called a ‘Helpdesk,’ describing it a method of accessing a “richer knowledge environment on existing legislation … and water resources governance … drawn from best practice in the international sphere.”

Bassil also mentioned the issue of groundwater conservation. “In the last year I have received [approximately] a thousand requests asking for permission to build wells, which I have refused to sign, in order to protect the standard of our groundwater,” said Bassil,

“This water must be conserved to best provide for our citizens,” he added.

The minister’s statement comes in line with a study conducted in Bahrain which found new levels of desalination in the Dammam aquifer caused by underground water flows and seawater intrusion. Some believe that this case reflects the potential state of Lebanon’s own groundwater sources.

Youssef Karam, the head of the Department of Water Sewage and Infrastructure at the Council of Development and Reconstruction, addressed the issue of sources of pollution and the policies available for the protection of water sources.

“We are feeling the effects of pollution from foreign companies [operating in Lebanon] that are polluting without the permission of the relevant authorities,” said Karam, before addressing the issue of anti-pollution legislation.

“There should be effective and implementable laws against polluters and strong oversight of pesticides used by farmers. Many farmers are using pesticides and chemicals that – although they’re cheap and in some instances free – are also responsible for the pollution of many of our water sources.”

“The underlying problem is mismanagement,” said Alejandro Iza, the director of the Environmental Law Center for the IUDC in Bonn.

“Water is unequally distributed, we all know this … and so what we need is an evolution of international water laws to best tackle this problem,” Iza said.

The expert’s views came in line with the general consensus of the conference that new management and infrastructure was required for Lebanon’s water security to develop.

“Our precipitation levels haven’t changed in 50 years … however, the efficiency of our agricultural irrigation is only at sixty percent with twenty percent being lost in transport.” said Najem. “Our water network is not running at optimum.”

© Copyright The Daily Star 2010.