Water specialists have warned that Lebanon faces severe water shortages unless it puts an effective water management system into place. Damage from Israeli bombing during the recent war served to worsen existing problems.

Ahmed el-Dor, a water engineer in the United Nations children's agency (UNICEF), said that, despite abundant rainfall, there are problems of mismanagement and shortages of skilled staff.

May Jurdi, environmental health professor at the American University of Beirut, said that groundwater was often contaminated with sewage and agricultural waste, causing diarrhoea, hepatitis and cholera. Water supplies are also unreliable. Ahmed Ramadan, from southern Beirut, said: “If we were to rely on the water pumped to our home, we would have no drinking water at all."

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has completed seven major water rehabilitation projects in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley, where infrastructure was damaged by Israeli bombing. ICRC water projects since July 2006 have benefited more than 400,000 inhabitants.

Contact: Anna Schaaf, ICRC Beirut, + 961 1 739 297

Sources:ICRC 03 Jan 2007, Irin News, 17 Jan 2007, ICRC

Tags: capacity development, governance, water distribution