Project Deliverable: D07.1 Case Study Report: Abou Ali River Basin - Lebanon Programme name: Sustainable Management of Scarce Resources in the Coastal Zone Program Areas: A3, (d) Project acronym: SMART Contract number: ICA3-CT-2002-10006 Project Deliverable: D07.1: Case Study Report: Abou Ali River Basin - Lebanon Related Work WP 07 Regional Case Study: Lebanon Package: Type of Deliverable: f.e. RE Technical Report Dissemination level: f.e. public Document Author: NCRS Edited by: Reviewed by: Document Version: Draft Revision history: First Availability: 09-2004 Final Due Date: Last Modification: Hardcopy delivered to: Dr. Cornelia Nauen European Commission, Research Directorate General SDME 1/02 B-1049 Brussels, Belgium 1 Table of Contents Table of Contents ....................................................................................... 2 1. Introduction.............................................................................................. 3 2.1 Water and the socio-economic profile .............................................. 4 2.2 GIS data ................................................................................................ 5 2.3 Land use/cover maps (LUC) .............................................................. 5 2.4. Climate/Water resources ................................................................... 7 2.5 Project Area – Lebanon .................................................................... 10 2.6. WaterWare RRM & WRM cases:.................................................... 22 2.7 Scenarios – Driving forces on water ............................................... 32 2.8 Networks and user groups................................................................ 37 3. Model Applications ............................................................................... 39 4. Discussion and Recommendations ................................................... 73 2 1. Introduction Tripoli, the second largest city in Lebanon along the eastern Mediterranean with a population of around 400000, is the end journey of the Abou Ali river which drains about 482 km2 of watershed (Fig. 1). The city lies in a small plain at the foot of a plateau with three tributaries of Abou Ali. The plateau, and the three tributaries, grade quickly up the steep slopes into Mount Lebanon chain to heights exceeding 1500 m where their major springs occur. Thus, within a short distance one is going from humid warm to dry and temperate. This nature, with sudden changes in topography as well as climate, induces socio-economic stresses on the community, which is scattered in lots of rural settlements, related to land exploitation and resource management. The main water supply is precipitation which falls only for 80 days varying from 900 mm (+) annually at Tripoli city, to more than 1400 mm at the mountains, plus a considerable amount of snow (not yet well gauged). These rejuvenate the water in the subsurface, but also there is a very high rate of run-off as well as up to 46% evaporation plus evapotranspiration. In spite of the available water, it is unfortunate that quality control in the highly scattered settlements is lacking rendering that water of low quality. Thus, although Abou Ali river discharges 207 Mm3 annually passing through Tripoli, the city barely benefits from it. It depends on some springs in the surroundings yielding together some 80000 m3, and on a series of water wells yielding a similar amount. The water authorities run an old network which adds to the water quality and quantity problems because of leakage and infiltration. This makes the problem worse as there are acute shortages with a per capita demand of 220 m3. The annual water demand is 88 Mm3 which is supplied from surface and subsurface sources, with a very small amount, about 15 Mm3, is treated for re-use. The highest consumer is the agricultural sector at 65% - 70%, followed by 25%, 6%, 3%, and 1% for the domestic, industrial, touristic and environmental sectors, respectively. Although the growth of Tripoli urban families at about 2% is lower than the inland rural, about 3%, its population increased about 33% with density of 14000/km2 since the 1980’s, while its urban built-up land increased about 200% since the 1960’s. Obviously, this meant a huge increasing demand and stress on water, as well as devouring its once fertile and productive land. Already the preceding identifies linkages between the socio-economic activity and water uses. It is worthwhile to note that water usage is partially controlled as subscribers pay a fixed amount annually, usually for 1 m3/day per household even though this quantity is never achieved. This is why they depend on drilling their own water wells, thus further stressing the available water. Most of those private wells, i.e. thousands, go unchecked for pumping rate and water quality. On the otherhand, Lebanon is famous to always has had a high rate of emigration. This applies well in the study area standing at about 10% - 15%, notably due to the young generation opting to go to African or other Arabian or American countries seeking jobs that are short in Lebanon. In addition, the long internal strife (1975-1990) shook the country’s socio- economic base severely. It induced huge waves of immigration, in and out of the city, and large segments of the productive sectors were damaged for no return, i.e. industry, agriculture and tourism. Unfortunately, there are no reliable data at regional or municipality levels, but North Lebanon is overall less well developed than the rest of the country with a per capita of about $ 6000-7500 compared to the national $ 8000. It is still highly agricultural, which contributes less than 14% to GDP, and not well encouraged. Industry has been traditionally weak, and tourism contributes about 22% to GDP with a very good potential in the north, but not yet fully realized. The domestic sector depends for about 40% and 60% on surface and subsurface water, while it is almost the opposite in agriculture and industry. It is interesting to note that tourism is becoming recently a factor of increasing water demand. Problems abound hindering the sufficient supply of water to meet growing and changing demands of the community. Several basic changes overtook the area, and are taking place that affect the linkages between socio-economics and water uses. We covered both the demographic and land use above, which leaves technological and institutional change. Notable in the former is the decision to privatize the water sector which implies upgrading the drinking water network, the treatment plant, erecting a wastewater treatment plant (in Tripoli 3 and smaller others elsewhere) and modifying water prices now standing at 0.57 € per liter for bottled and 0.4x10-3 € for domestic water. In agriculture, irrigation is increasing in area, especially with green houses, and changing in methods towards more water conservation. The social fabric of the productive human power is also changing since family businesses are changing, e.g. less in agriculture, more in services and informatics. On the institutional front, a reorganization in the water authority has started giving more power to de-centralized agencies. This is associated with upgrading some water legislation, regulations and policies including the code of the environment which allows more quality control criteria to be practiced. Better management approaches due to privatization would hopefully improve the overall situation. Still critical about water legislation in Lebanon is its old age and thus lacking on many serious issues. Among these are the land ownership and water rights, which render a spring in somebody’s land his own. Another is the lack of focus on new methods of using water in a sustainable manner, like open flow irrigation rather than drip. And certainly the need to upgrade legislation on water quality and prices. Although the water Ministry is trying to update and upgrade those legislations, still one can not find a global approach to watershed investigations. Recently, the Japanese have given an aid package for Lebanon including a comprehensive plan to rehabilitate the Ministry focusing on sustainable management. Stakeholders concerned with a sustainable management of scarce water resources in the area of study are many and varied. They include those in charge of water (North Water Authority) who are responsible for the treatment and distribution plus pricing, which is now undergoing privatization. Of course, there is the Tripoli municipality which is responsible for the health and welfare services of the community. There are further several interest groups, i.e. private sector like ordinary citizens worried about the lowering of the water table and pollution in their wells; the order of engineers who extend lots of help to the municipality, environmental NGOs concerned with the safety of people and sustainability of natural resources; there are also academic researchers working on both hydrology and/or health effects of the water. Finally, an idea about some on-going projects in the area of study that may affect water sustainability. The most important is the privatization of the water sector which will have an improved impact on its management, pricing, allocation and quality control. Another is the upgrading and expansion of the Tripoli wastewater treatment plant as well as creation of few small ones in the rural area. Similarly is the improving of the solid waste management plan. There are several touristic and recreational