Ms. Mayada Abou Ajram – Landscape Architect

• Lack of a global master plan for the Damour Basin and other municipalities.
• Excessive waste in the usage of water along the river banks.
• Lack of a sewage network in the villages along the river.
• Lack of studies on (a) Cultivated lands in Damour and (b) The Damour coastal area.
• Desertification of the Damour coastal area
• Lack of awareness
• No committee to manage and address water problems in the region, and municipal decisions are not in harmony. 

• There is no master plan from the government to manage available water resources in the Damour river basin.
• There is no public awareness on the Value of the water, and of water richness in Lebanon and how to benefit from it.
• There should be more awareness campaigns.
• There are more than one committee to manage these problems, and this that does not facilitate the development of solutions.
• There is lack of continuous monitoring of water quality.
• Excessive water use and pollution from inhabitants when in picnics/excursions.

Piracy on Damour Water

• I believe that the big problem is in fact the demographic constraints in the metropolitan area of Beirut. This problem has not been solved yet, both in terms of supply (i.e. transferring excess water from Damour to Beirut) and in terms of waste.
• Why don’t we desalinate water for the city of Beirut?
• Piracy has led the Government to make the Mount Lebanon water authority part of the Beirut water office.
• Why don’t they desalinate water for Beirut?

Sea water intrusion has become phenomenal due to the uncontrolled and excessive extraction of water from wells. Who is responsible?  

• The city of Damour and its surroundings are drinking polluted water, exceeding 1200 TDS
• Before the war in 1975, we used to drink water from a source near the village of Dfoun. It was pure and potable. Today, this water is not used and goes to the sea.
• Is there someone to finance a detailed study on options to secure continuous water supply to the population ?

The causes of the problem

• The direct cause is the low quantity of water both in terms of quantity and quality.
• There is excessive water use, without any limit or control.
• There are environmental violations all along the Damour river.
• Waste and garbage are dumped into the river.
• The allocation of water among stakeholders is illogical and irrational and wastewater treatment for reuse is not practiced.

Bashir Aoun - Lawyer

Demographic problems in Beirut and its suburbs have compelled politicians and decision makers to adopt short-term solutions without taking into account long-term constraints and projections, and finding long-lasting solutions that could preserve water resources in terms of both quantity and quality.

Ministry of the Environment