Free Flow

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ater

ooperation

, S

ustainability

and

overty

radication

Therefore, the aspects of transboundary water must include

perennial and temporary resources of different scales.

They can be

summarized as follows:

• groundwater reservoirs (aquifers) where groundwater is stored in

rocks that extend for large areas (several hundred kilometres) and

have considerable thickness exceeding several hundred metres

• rivers – as permanent watercourses these usually run along

sloping topography and then transect different countries

• springs are usually considered as essential water sources; several

springs are located near political borders and issue water from

one country to another

• streams are temporary watercourses that also transect

different regions.

Usually, the tools used to identify and assess shared water resources

include topographic and cadastre maps. The combination of these

two maps in conjunction with geological and hydrological data

can help adjoining countries to diagnose their shared waters.

However, erroneous delineation and readings of these maps can

create conflict between countries.

The assessment of Lebanon’s water resources in this study

followed a number of approaches and utilized advanced techniques

either in computerizing maps or in the analysis of geospatial data.

The applied steps can be summarized as follows:

• Harmonizing the available maps (topography, geology and

cadastre) in digital forms, including the adjacent regions

between Lebanon and its neighbouring countries

• Joining together the data and information on maps with

attributed tables (database) in the geographic information

system in order to be able to modify, update and measure the

required information.

• Fixing the measures and dimensions of geospatial data for

the shared sources including rivers, streams, geological

boundaries, location of springs and so on.

• Using remotely sensed data, especially in monitoring the extent of

snow cover. For this purpose, MODIS-Terra satellite images were

analyzed. In some cases, high-resolution images were processed

(such as Ikonos, Aster and Landsat).

• Applying filed surveys, whenever applicable, to generate the

names, ownership and other related data on shared water

resources at the border area.

Following this approach, water resources shared by

Lebanon with neighbouring regions could be identi-

fied as follows.

Shared groundwater in aquiferous rock formations

between Lebanon and the neighbouring regions is

composed largely of carbonate rocks (92 per cent),

basalt and alluvial deposits (8 per cent). About 87 per

cent of Lebanon’s border is shared with Syria and the

other 13 per cent with its southern neighbours. These

rock formations are almost all carbonate rocks with

high fracture and karstic systems.

The major fracture systems (faults) in these rock

formations were identified from satellite images. Thus,

185 major faults were identified. These faults work

as hydrological channels transporting groundwater

between Lebanon and adjacent regions.

There are three shared rivers between Lebanon its

neighbouring countries, two rivers with Syria and one

with the southern countries. These are the Al-Kabir

River (150 million cubic metres) along the northern

border of Lebanon with Syria, the Orontes (locally

called El-Assi, 500 million cubic metres) which origi-

nates in Lebanon and extends to Syria to the north and

then to Turkey, and the third is the El-Wazzani (220

million cubic metres) which runs from Lebanon down-

stream though the Galilee.

The origin of springs in Lebanon is identified, but

the run-off routes are almost unrecognized, notably

when they run towards the neighbouring regions.

These springs are fed mainly from snowmelt. The

survey obtained from the topographic maps identi-

fied 77 major shared springs in Lebanon. However,

springs are chaotically utilized by the inhabitants,

since the ownerships of these resources is not well

identified, and there is no common manner of water

use from these springs. Thus, the shared springs are

not controlled and they are subjected to many pollu-

tion aspects and overexploitation.

Streams were not counted in this assessment because

they do not issue water permanently. However, they

appear as a geopolitical issue when dams are built along

them and running water becomes restricted only to the

upstream country. In the study, only the major shared

streams were identified among their catchment areas.

Like many regions worldwide, Lebanon has recently

given great concern to its water resources, which

became threatened in the light of the challenging

climatic regime and the increased population size.

However, studies in this respect are still too rare to

make a detailed assessment of Lebanese shared water

resources. This study extends to a brief discussion on

the major elements of the Lebanese water resources

and approaches for assessment and monitoring.

However, if such a study is applied in the neigh-

bouring regions, the integration of different data and

information, as well as cooperation on the regional

level, will enable a clear figure for each country’s water

quota and the avoidance of future conflicts on water

resources in the Middle East region.

Preparing

available data

Comprehensive and

complete data

Data

correction

Data manipulation

(in GIS)

Remote sensing

application

Applying measures,

calculations and

cartography

Remote sensing

application

The method used for transboundary water resources assessment

Source: National Council of Scientific Research (CNRS), Lebanon