Amin Shaban

By Amin Shaban

Lebanon was described as the “water tower of the Middle East,” but the current status is contradictory, and water supply/demand gap has become imbalanced. Even though, water is available, yet water shortage is a major challenge in Lebanon. This is attributed to the undefined hydrological cycle and the lack of sufficient hydrologic data to establish proper strategies and policies. This study investigates the existing physical and anthropogenic challenges and their impact on water resources. Hence, climate change is one major aspect of these challenges where the precipitation patterns have been abruptly changes to torrential rainfall, and this is accompanied with increased temperature estimated at 1.6°C. In addition, the exacerbated population rate (2%) with the doubled number of refugees makes Lebanon a country under water stress. The discharge in rivers and springs has declined by about 60% over the last four decades, while groundwater level has sharply lowered in the major aquifers and the pumping rate has decreased to about 35%. The problem on water resources in Lebanon should be resolved by promoting a national strategy that takes all hydrological components into account, as well as new adaptation measures must be proposed for better water management.

Part of the book: Hydrology

By Amin Shaban

Lebanon is known by tremendous water resources, and this has been often viewed from the considerable number of rivers (i.e. 14 rivers). These rivers are characterized by small catchments and short length. The estimated average annual discharge from these rivers is approximately 2800 million m3. Due to the sloping terrain of Lebanon; however, it was estimated that more than 75% of water from rivers is unexploited it mainly outlets into the sea. The majority of water use from the Lebanese rivers implies domestic, agriculture, as well as some other rivers are used for hydro-power generation where they contribute by about 20% of electricity needed for Lebanon. Lately, and added to water pollution, there is abrupt decline in the discharge from these rivers estimated to more than 60% of their average annual discharge. This unfavorable situation is attributed, in addition to the changing climate, to the anthropogenic interference is the most affecting one and it is represented by over pumping from these rivers and form the recharge zone for groundwater and springs that feed these rivers. This chapter aims at introducing a discussion on the existed challenges on the Lebanese rivers and the proposed and their impact.

Part of the book: Hydrology