Geography of Lebanon

Main rivers of Lebanon

Water is becoming a scarce resource in Lebanon due to climate change, which leads to different rainfall patterns as well as to inefficient methods of distribution within the country. Most of Lebanon's rainfall is in the four months of winter, but over the last 45 years, the Ministry of Environment (Lebanon) estimates that rainfall has decreased overall between 5 and 20 percent.[9] The coastal strip of Lebanon gets approximately 2,000 mm of rain per year, while the Beqaa Valley to the east gets only one-tenth as much.[10] In 2004, only about 21% of households across Lebanon had constant access to water in the summer months, with most of those households concentrated in or near Beirut.[9] It is predicted that in future years, there will be higher temperatures, lower rainfall, and longer droughts, leading to even less access to water.[10] According to the Ministry of Environment, several factors that are putting stress on Lebanon's water resources are unsustainable water management practices, increasing water demand from all sectors, water pollution, and ineffective water governance.[11] Lebanon has struggled with inadequate water and sanitation services for many years.[12] The factors with the greatest effect on quality and quantity of water resources in Lebanon are population growth, urbanization (88% of the population now lives in urban areas), economic growth, and climate change.[13] In recent years, population growth has been increased rapidly with the addition of many Syrian refugees.[12] Some new projects have been proposed to restructure the water sector. Currently, over 48 percent of water supplied by the public system is lost through seepage and wastewater networks are extremely poor, or even non-existent in some areas.[12] One project that is currently being implemented by the Ministry of Environment in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) focusses on harvesting rainwater from agricultural greenhouse tops in order to increase water harvesting and reduce the pressure on pumping groundwater.[13] This project is expected to increase water availability during the especially critical months of late summer and early autumn when there is less precipitation, which would help to reduce the risk of salinity in both soil and water, and to increase the resilience of crops faced with prolonged drought.[13] There are also proposed projects that suggest the agricultural sector use recycled waste water to allow for more fresh and potable water for consumption.[13] This would be a huge improvement, as solid-wast treatment facilities are in short supply, and over 92 percent of Lebanon's sewage runs untreated directly into water-courses and the sea.[12] If Lebanon does not reform its water sector, it is likely that there will be chronic and critical water shortages by 2020, which would create needs the Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) would be unable to meet.[14] Water is becoming a scarce resource and if Lebanon instates reformed practices, the progression forward into future water scarcity can be slowed.

As of September 2019, approximately 1.5 million Syrian refugees reside in Lebanon. As the number of Refugees of the Syrian Civil War in Lebanon rises, Lebanon continues to face more major challenges to its food and water security. The refugee situation is placing tremendous pressure on the country's resources.[15] There are serious changes in Lebanon's water availability and agricultural production as a result of climate change and population growth, making it more difficult to fulfill the needs of refugees.[16] More than 40% of farmers in Kfardebian and 81% in the Beqa'a region have reported water shortages being exacerbated by the region's close proximity to Syria and the influx of refugees.[15] Water scarcity affects the quantity and quality of water available to the villages, food security, and land availability for living and for cultivating.[15] The influx of Syrian refugees is not something the Lebanese government could have reasonably prepared for as it happened so rapidly, but international aid has proven to also be inadequate for the scale of the crisis, especially in the Beqa'a and Northern Lebanon region, which borders closely with Syria.[15] Arrivals of refugees to Lebanon grew at an unprecedented pace in 2013 and 2014, with an average of 47,000 refugees being registered by UNHCR per month.[12] Close to 30 percent of the refugee population are left without access to safe drinking water because of the increased water scarcity in the region.[12] One issue with providing adequate care for the refugees is that both Syria and Lebanon have deeply divided populations, meaning that their current priorities are not climate change or population growth as much as they are regime stability and national security.[15] Because of this priority focus away from refugees, Lebanon needs major international assistance to meet immediate humanitarian needs, as well as to strengthen water infrastructure and irrigation throughout the country.[15] By the beginning of 2015, there were an estimated 1.3 million Syrian refugees living in Lebanon, and it is expected that this number will rise to approximately 1.8 million by December 2015.It is estimated to be around 2 million Syrian refugees as of September 2019.[16] "As their displacement extends and their savings deplete, refugees' socio-economic vulnerability increases."[16] Syrian refugees who were born in Lebanon are at an increased risk, as 72 percent of them do not possess official birth certificates.[16] The majority of refugees have settled in the Beqa'a region.[17] Because of the influx, not only has Lebanon suffered on a basis of resources and environmental stress, but Lebanon has also suffered economically through a loss of trade, tourism and investment.[16] According to a World Bank Assessment in October 2013, the economic impact of the Syrian crisis was estimated to cost Lebanon USD 7.5 billion, and the country's GDP has plunged from 10 percent before the crisis to 2 percent currently.[17] Public services and infrastructure as well are under severe strain as a result of the refugee influx.[12] A vulnerability assessment conducted by the UN and partner agencies has shown that upward of 70 percent of refugees cannot meet their minimum daily food requirements.[12] 72 percent of all refugees have been receiving monthly food assistance from WFP (World Food Programme).[17] However, in 2015, WFP lost funding and had to reduce the value of food vouchers by 40 percent.[12] There is a serious strain on resources in Lebanon being exacerbated by an influx of refugees in the country, and Lebanon needs more international aid in order to sustain the population in the long-term.

EU-funded air monitoring in Beirut

As a result of increasingly hot summers and its location within the Mediterranean region, which is often cited for having long episodes of pollution, Lebanon, Beirut in particular, is at high risk for air pollution.[18] Approximately 93 percent of Beirut's population is exposed to high levels of air pollution, which can most often be attributed to vehicle-induced emissions, whether it be long-range travel or short commuting traffic.[18][19] The cost of air pollution to health may exceed ten million dollars a year.[19] The levels of air pollution in Beirut are increasing annually, and were already above acceptable WHO (World Health Organization) standards by 2011.[19] The most noted pollution in Beirut is particulate matter (street dust), chemicals in the air, and vehicle exhaust. Air pollution is exacerbated by city structure and inadequate urban management as indicated by high buildings on narrow streets, which contain air pollutants.[19] Some recommendations for improvement of air quality include encouragement of carpooling and citywide biking, alternative fuels for vehicles, and a widened public transit sector.[19]

The question of air quality has received considerable attention and funding by Lebanon's foreign partners. Between 2013 and 2017, the Lebanese ministry of environment was granted a donation of over 10 million Euros by Greece and the European Union to establish a national air monitoring network, which included at its peak 25 stations.[20] This network was launched in October 2017 at a major event bringing together 26 different institutions;[21] it was to serve as the cornerstone of Lebanon's National Strategy for Air Quality Management, which was released at the end of the same year.[22] By mid-2019, however, the ministry of environment ceased to maintain and operate this network, involving budgetary restrictions.[20] Stations were subsequently looted, even in central Beirut.

Sukleen, Lebanon's largest waste disposal company has a waste management process that goes through several stages, including clean-up and collection, sorting and composting, and burial.[23] However, many argue that Lebanon needs a much better system for disposal of waste to reduce pollution and environmental degradation. The Litani River is Lebanon's largest river and many farms use the river's water to irrigate land and crops.[24] Because of Lebanon's poor waste management system, a lot of waste and pollution ends up in the Litani and contaminates the crops, in turn endangering the health of consumers and farmers alike, contributing to environmental degradation, as well as hurting the agricultural reputation and economy.[24]

In January 2014, protests in the town of Naameh began to arise, effectively blocking disposal of garbage at the landfill for three days.[25] The protests were instated in response to the continued use of the landfill in Naameh beyond the date it was originally meant to close.[26] The landfill began as a six-year project in 1997, but has remained open for seventeen years as of 2015, and without a sufficient alternative location for garbage disposal, it is likely that it will remain open for the foreseeable future.[26] In 1997, Naameh became the country's primary landfill and was initially supposed to hold two million tons of waste.[25] The landfill currently holds ten million tons of trash, and is still in use.[25] Residents of the area in 2014 did not want to extend the landfill agreement, and staged the protests to prevent future plans.[25]

The company in charge of the majority of the area's collection and cleanup of trash is called Sukleen. It serves 364 towns and municipalities within Beirut and Mount Lebanon.[23] The total waste collected by the company rose from 1,140 tons daily in 1994, to 3,100 tons in 2014.[23] Sukleen is the largest government-contracted private waste management company in Lebanon.[25] In response to the protests, which were asking the government for more efficient waste management systems along with the closure of the landfill in Naameh, Sukleen responded to environmentalists by halting service to Beirut and Mount Lebanon for three days.[25] Because the Naameh landfills were closed and Sukleen was out of service, trash began to pile up in the streets of the city, affecting everyone citywide and drawing attention to the issue of city/region waste-management issues.[26]