Water Resources of Lebanon

Water has become a challenging resource that many countries worldwide are concerned with. Thus, water is often linked with health, society development, national income and even international geo-politics. Sometimes, water resources are unavailable, but successful management involves developing approaches and projects to assure water supply. However, there are some countries with available water resources, but unsatisfactory management, and thus complain about water supply becoming a national problem. This situation is prevalent in Lebanon, a country characterized by abundant water resources whether on the surface or sub-surface.

It is a paradox that there is still imbalance in water supply/demand in Lebanon, and water resources are now under stress due to chaotic use. This has been exacerbated by the oscillating climatic conditions, increased population and improper management. Therefore, people receive less than one-third of their water needs, and most water supplied is of poor quality. The current status shows a descending trend. Undoubtedly, if the water sector in Lebanon continues this way, we should anticipate unfavourable (and may be severe) consequences.

Many studies have been conducted on water and related disciplines in Lebanon; however, all of them focus on specific themes and sometimes defined regions. Nevertheless, the occurred changes on the influencers (natural and man-made) have not been considered.

This book is the first of its type for Lebanon, and it shows all aspects of water resources with updated measurements and findings obtained by adopting new techniques. It diagnoses in-depth the major elements of water flow/storage mechanism that have never been covered in such a comprehensive manner before. Also, this book introduces and analyses the existing challenges and proposes solutions. It represents a comprehensive investigation of the water resources in Lebanon.

Auteur

Dr. Amin Shaban is a:

Director of Researcher at the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS-L) &

Professor at the Lebanese University.

Consultant for several international entities (e.g. UN-ESCWA, UNESCO, IHP, ENPI-CBCMES-European Commission, etc.)

He has a Master degree from the American University of Beirut, Ph.D. from Bordeaux-I University, and he has achieved a Fulbright Program in the United States, at Boston University. He is specialized in water resources management including the use of satellite images to study surface and subsurface water bodies, monitoring water systems, groundwater exploration, watershed management, climate change impact on water, as well as the influencers on water supply.

Dr. Shaban is the representative for Lebanon in many international programs, including the International Hydrological Program (IHP) and SDG-6. He is also committed as representative for many national committees. Moreover, he is a membership in different scientific assemblies, such as American Geophysical Union (AGU) and International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS). Dr. Shaban has been given several honorary awards, such as the Award for Career Excellence in Scientific Research and Award of Distinguished Researchers; Award of Best Arab Researcher in Integrated Water Resources Management.

Dr. Shaban has more than 60 Publications in International Journals, as well as published in more than 50 International proceedings, a number of scientific books on water resources, and produced several book chapters and produced many technical studies. Dr. Shaban has been the Principal Investigator for more than 15 research projects and participated in more than 25 projects. He has a teaching experience of more than 15 years, and supervised many Master and Ph.D. dissertations.

He also participated in a wide spectrum of seminars and workshops worldwide. Thus, he contributed in putting water principles for Lebanon and proposed several approaches on water resources investment and conservation.

Contenu
Foreword-1 Foreword-2 Preface Contents Summary
Chapter I IntroductionSummary1.1. Lebanon in the Regional View1.2. Historical Overview1.3. General Water Measurements1.4. Water Availability1.5. Water Demand1.6. Water Supply1.7. Previous StudiesReferences
Chapter II Atmospheric Regime and Terrain CharacteristicsSummary2.1. Atmospheric Variables2.1.1. Sources of Climatic Data2.1.2. Precipitation2.1.3. Temperature2.1.4. Evapotranspiration and Relative Humidity2.1.5. Aridity2.2. Morphology2.3. Karst Topography2.4. Geology2.4.1. Lithostratigraphy2.4.2. Structures Geology2.5. Land cover/UseReferences
Chapter III RiversSummary3.1. Introduction3.1.1. Rivers Classification3.1.2. Rivers Description3.2. Drainage Systems3.2.1. Watersheds Extraction3.2.2. Watershed Classification3.2.3. Geometric Measures3.2.4. Morphometric Measures3.3. Quantitative Measures3.4. Transboundary Rivers3.4.1. El-Kabir Transboundary River3.4.2. Al-Assi Transboundary River3.4.3. Hasbani-Wazzani Transboundary RiverReferences
Chapter IV SpringsSummary4.1. Introduction4.2. Springs Characteristics4.2.1. Types of Springs4.2.2. Springs Discharge4.3. Sub-marine Springs4.3.1. Concept of Identification4.3.2. Applied Methodologies4.3.3. Characteristics of Sub-marine SpringsReferences
Chapter V Snow CoverSummary5.1. Introduction5.2. Snow Cover AreaTools for AnalysisData Analysis5.3. Water Volume from Snow5.4. Physical Characteristics5.4.1. Snow Density5.4.2. Snow Hardness5.4.3. Snow Roughness5.5. Influencing Factors5.6. Thickness-Altitude Relationship5.7. Melting RateReferences
Chapter VI
Lakes and ReservoirsSummary6.1. Introduction6.2. Lakes6.2.1. Type of Lakes in Lebanon6.2.2. Challenges on Lakes6.3. Reservoirs6.3.1. Dam Reservoirs6.3.2. Mountain Reservoirs6.3.3. Debate on Dams ConstructionReferences
Chapter VII WetlandsSummary7.1. Introduction7.1.1. Concepts7.1.2. Wetlands in RAMSAR Convention7.2. Wetlands in Lebanon7.2.1. Wetlands Description7.2.2. Wetlands Degradation7.2.3. Criteria to Characterize Wetlands in LebanonReferences
Chapter VIII GroundwaterSummary8.1. Introduction8.2. Hydrogeological Characteristics8.2.1. Aquiferous properties8.2.2. Hydraulic properties8.3. Estimated Aquifers' Capacity8.4. Groundwater Recharge8.4.1. Factors Controlling Recharge Rate8.4.2. Data Manipulation8.5. Groundwater and Faults8.5.1. Elements of Investigation8.5.2. Data Analysis8.6. Groundwater Level and Discharge8.6.1. Groundwater Level8.6.2. Groundwater Discharge8.7. Groundwater Wells8.7.1. Public Wells8.7.2. Private Wells8.7.3. Drilling WellsReferences
Chapter IX Challenges on Water ResourcesSummary9.1. Concepts9.2. Method of Analysis9.2.1. Data Preparation9.2.2. Data Analysis9.3. Natural Challenges9.3.1. Topography and Geology9.3.2. Meteorological Conditions9.3.3. Hydrological Elements9.3.4. Trans-boundary Water9.4. Man-mad Challenges9.4.1. Population Growth9.4.2. Quality Deterioration9.4.3. Unwise Use of Water ResourcesReferences
Chapter X Proposed SolutionsSummary10.1. Dimensions of Water Crisis10.1.1. Spatial Dimensions10.1.2. Temporal Dimensions10.1.3. Future Expectations10.2. Proposed Solutions on Surface Water10.2.1. Mountain Reservoirs10.2.2. Dam Reservoirs10.2.3. Water-Convey Canals10.2.4. Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting10.2.5. Snowpack Reservation10.3. Proposed Solutions on Groundwater10.3.1. Artificial Groundwater Recharge10.3.2. Capturing Groundwater Discharge into the Sea10.4. Mitigation of Water Pollution10.5. Economic Policies10.6. Ethics and Water10.6.1. Aspects of Bad Ethics in Water10.6.2. Changing Ethics in Water10.7. Lebanon in SDGReferences
Glossary