The maximum renewable water resources in Syria is 18.209 billion cubic meters /year distributed as shown in the following table. Added to this is the humidity due rains in a normal raining year (average annual rain fall) which is sufficient for the plantation of 3 million hectares of non-irrigated land (in the year 2003 3.3 million hectares of non -irrigated land was planted), and for improving the condition of natural pastures.

 Renewable water resources in Syria (billion m3)

The water resources in Syria are distributed to seven basins namely: Barada and Aawag basin, Orontes, Al-Yarmouk basin, the coastal basin, the desert basin, Aleppo and Euphrates basin, Tigris and Khabour basin. Available water resources are quantitatively distributed in all seven basins mentioned above as illustrated in table 2.3 The table clearly demonstrates the imbalance between the population in the basin in question to the total population in the country on the one hand and the rate of water resources in the basins to the total water resources in the country on the other. When we see, for example, that the rate of water resources in Damascus basin represents not more than 5% of the water resources in the country compared of its population of 29.7% of the total Syrian population, whereas it is 31.6% in the Euphrates basin where 60.5% of water resources are centered (excluding Syria’s share of Tigris river water).

In general it can be said that the average share of water of a Syrian individual is approx 1000m3/year, a rate which is dropping gradually due to increase of population, although data from the Ministry of Irrigation shows a drop in the individual’s share of available water reaches the level of water poverty in all years since this share has dropped from 1015 m3/year to 747 m3/year and some dry years it dropped to 577 m3/year .