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Water Infrastructures

Contemporary Water Infrastructure

Myriam Saadé-Sbeih, Ahmed Haj Asaad, Omar Shamali, Ronald Jaubert

Water infrastructures currently in service in the upper and middle reach of the Orontes basin are

restored ancient infrastructures, such as the Qattinah dam or canals feeding the irrigated perimeter of

Qusayr. The rehabilitation of these canals initiated in the 1920s, was followed by the extension of water

networks in order to increase irrigated areas, particularly in the plain of Homs in the 1930s. In the late

1950s, the construction the Ar Rastan and Muharadah dams were the first stage of the Al Asharinah and

Al Ghab irrigation development plans. Some facilities such as waterwheels (norias) have been gradually

abandoned in favor of others, in particular motor pumps installed all along the course of the Orontes

River. The construction and operation of the Ar Rastan dam reduced the river discharge thus putting out

of use many waterwheels (Delpech et al 1997). The introduction and generalization of motor pumps

substantially increased the extraction of groundwater which led to a profound transformation of the

exploitation of water resources in the basin.

Development of the Upper Orontes

Ancient water facilities located between the northern Beqaa and Lake Qattinah, in the Upper Orontes,

have been relatively little changed during the twentieth century. In the Lebanese part of the basin, oases

– or ghoutas – exploit the many springs located in the area, namely, Younine, Laboue, Fakiyé and Ras

Baalbeck at the foot of the Anti-Lebanon; Hermel and Qasr at the foot of Mount Lebanon (Weulersse

1940). The largest irrigation network which is fed by the Laboue springs was slightly modified in the

1960’s. The main change took place during the civil war with the redefinition of water distribution rules.

During the the 1970s, and especially since the end of the civil war, canal irrigation systems were

overwhelmed by the proliferation of boreholes and the subsequent extension of irrigation from

groundwater, particularly in the “Projects area” north of Qaa along the Syrian border (Audi 2013).

Downstream, across the border with Syria, several perimeters are irrigated from canals fed from the

river. Five water intakes are located in the three main river waterfalls, 3 km upstream of the Lebanese-

Syrian border, in Lebanese territory. These canals irrigate a total of 6,800 ha in Syria and 100 to 200 ha

in Lebanon. They are also used in Lebanon for domestic water supply and for the disposal of wastewater

from nearby villages. Canals along the river side that allowed small scale irrigation on the banks were

abandoned in favor of fish farming and tourism (restaurants, hotels...).

Development of the Middle Orontes

The initial studies conducted during the French Mandate aimed at defining the hydro agricultural

potential of the middle reach of the basin. The studies identified two main areas for irrigation

developments, the plain of Homs and the plains of Al Asharinah and Al Ghab. The development of the

latter two areas, respectively from the 1930s to the 1950s and the 1950s to the 1970s, led to the

construction, of dams on the Orontes River and its tributaries (Table 1). In the late 1950s, the young

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ATLAS OF THE ORONTES RIVER BASIN

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Syrian Republic built the dams of Rastan and Muhardah, in 1958-1960 and 1959-1961 respectively, and

raised to 500 million m3 of the total storage capacity, fed the 12 600 km2 catchment area upstream of

Muhardah. The reservoirs provided only seasonal flow control of the Orontes River. From the late 1980s,

seven new dams of smaller capacity were built. In addition, 24 dams of local importance were built

upstream of Lake Qattinah, and in the governorates of Homs, Idleb and Aleppo in the district of Afrin.

Since the 1980s, the whole area has been marked by an increase in the drilling of boreholes and

intensive groundwater exploitation, not without consequence on the use of public waterworks.

Table 1: Main dams on the Orontes

Source: Droubi and Shamali (2013)

The Homs-Hama irrigated perimeter

A large irrigated area extends along the Orontes River between the cities of Homs and Hama. The

irrigation schemes are fed by the reservoir of the Qattinah dam, possibly one of the oldest dam still in

operation . Before the modern redevelopment of the Homs plain, three canals were fed from the lake,

one of them used to supply water to the city of Homs for domestic usages and for irrigating 1,000

hectares of gardens.

Gibert (1949) estimated that a total of 2,000 ha were irrigated in the Homs plain in the 1940s. The

development of these irrigated gardens, initiated during the French Mandate in 1936, involved the

raising of the Qattinah dam (1938-1940) to increase the storage capacity of the reservoir. It also involved

building a 68 km canal between the cities of Homs and Hama; and connecting this canal to a network

comprised of secondary, tertiary and quaternary canals (Gibert 1949). The irrigable area was estimated

at 60,000 ha, only a part of which has been brought under irrigation. The canal irrigation scheme,

irrigated about 20,200 ha in the late 2000s. The Homs-Ar Rastan section of the irrigation network, built

between 1936 and 1942, irrigated 13,000 ha and the Ar Rastan-Hama network, built between 1944 and

1950, supplied 72,00 ha. The irrigated area decreased by 15% to 20% on the past 15 years.

Name Year of construction Capacity (in millions of m3) Irrigated area (ha)

Qattinah 1938-1940 185 22000

Rastan 1958-1960 250 59841

Muhardah 1959-1961 50 72000

Apamea A 1996 27.5 5470

Apamea B 1997 38 Undocumented

Apamea C 1997 23 Undocumented

Zayzun 1995 71 Undocumented

Qastun 1992 27 3000

Abu Barra 1987 8 Undocumented

Salhab 1992 7.75 Undocumented

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Development of the Al Asharinah and Al Ghab plains

Over the three decades following the independence, during the agrarian reforms period, major hydraulic

works were launched in the Al Asharinah and Al Ghab plains, where large irrigated state perimeters

were established. Both areas are located northwest of the city of Hama, in the Middle reach of the

basin. The Al Asharinah plain spreads over 15 km from east to west. The Al Ghab plain made up of

lacustrine sediments, stretches over 10 km wide and 50 km long. Both these regions were originally

swamps, fed by the annual flooding of the Orontes and by perennial springs in the foothills. Fishing used

to be the main economic activity (Thoumin 1936).

In 1950, the Syrian government initiated the Middle Orontes project to recover 35,000 hectares of land

and irrigate between 65, 000 and 70, 000 ha. The Al Ghab Office was created in 1951 to implement the

project. Despite government instability during 1958 to 1963, the project remained a priority of the first

Five-Year Plan (1960-1965) and benefited from public investments until the late 1970s although

supplanted by the Euphrates development project as the flagship program of Syria’s irrigation policy.

In the wake of several assessments, including the one conducted by the Dutch company NEDECO, the

project was implemented between 1960 and 1968. The work consisted, at first to blow up the basaltic

lock located in Karkur north of the Al Ghab plain; drain the swamps; and broaden and deepen the bed of

the Orontes between Karkur and Kfeir. Two dams were built at Ar Rastan and Muhardah to regulate the

flow of the river and supply irrigation water (Ar Rastan dam). All irrigation and drainage systems were

operational in 1968. Nearly 950 km of main and secondary canals were built. The unhealthy and difficult-

to-access marshy plain became, , an intensive agriculture pilot region in a span of two or three decades

(Métral 1979). Currently, the irrigated areas of Al Ghab and Al Asharinah cover an area of 45,800 ha and

26,000 ha respectively.

The operation of these schemes has met with a number of difficulties. The development of the Al Ghab

irrigation scheme especially, faced strong physical constraints related to the climate, water and soils.

Diagnoses made between 1972 and 1978 on irrigation and drainage revealed drainage and maintenance

problems and irrigation regulation deficiencies. Farmers’ coping strategies such as pumping from

drainage collectors cause further damage to the system. Following these observations, the Al Ghab and

Al Asharinah perimeters were renovated in 1986: drainage and irrigation networks were improved and

the storage of surplus water from the winter period was increased. This phase included the

rehabilitation of the Karkur dam in order to reduce its exploitation. This work was completed by the

construction of the Abu Barra and Salhab dams on Orontes tributaries for flood-control and water

storage, and by the creation of the Afamia A, B, C; Kastoun and Zayzun reservoirs, to store the excess

water pumped during the winter.

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From the mid-1990s, both irrigation schemes experienced other difficulties related to the deterioration

of the situation of the Orontes in general, and in the Al Ghab and Al Asharneh areas in particular (Droubi

and Shamali 2013; Shamali 2014). Low rainfall during the 1993-2001 and 2005-2008 seasons and

intensive extraction of groundwater, contributed to the depletion of aquifers and reduction in the flow

of springs. Rough estimates of the water balance sheet indicate that, if the 594 million m3 required for

irrigation is to be balanced, the amount of water provided from the Upper Orontes (Rastan and

Muhardah dams) should be increased by about 200 million m3. Because of reduced water resources in

the Upper Orontes and low of water storage in the Ar Rastan reservoir, in 1998-1999 and 1999-2000, Al

Ghab and Al Asharinah irrigated areas had virtually no supply from the irrigation network. These areas

were then entirely dependent on springs and groundwater. Conversely, during the 2002-2003 season,

high rainfall and releases from the Ar Rastan reservoir caused flooding in the Al Ghab perimeter.

Structural problems such as the fragmentation of holdings, the average size of which is of 400 m2

superscript, and inefficient water distribution policies have contributed to the water shortage. Despite

this, irrigated areas continued to expand thanks to the exploitation of groundwater resources which are

also used in dry years to supplement the supply of surface water from canal networks.

References

Audi, S. (2013). Agriculture and irrigation dynamics in the Qaa village: Strategies of access to water and land resources. Master thesis, Université de Lausanne. Besançon, J., & Geyer, B. (1995). La cuvette du Ruğ (Syrie du Nord). Les conditions naturelles et les étapes de la mise en valeur. Syria, 72(3), 307–355. doi:10.3406/syria.1995.7448 Delpech, A., Girard, F., Robine, G., and Roumi, M. (1997). Les Norias De L'Oronte, Institut Français de Damas, Damas. Droubi, A. & Shamali, O. (2013). Water use and water infrastructure. Working paper. Gibert, A. (1949). L’irrigation de la plaine de Homs et ses problèmes. Revue de Géographie Jointe Au Bulletin de La Société de Géographie de Lyon et de La Région Lyonnaise, 24(2), 151–158. doi:10.3406/geoca.1949.5316 Métral, F., Métral, J. (1979). Maitrise de l’eau et société dans la plaine du Ghab. Revue de Géographie de Lyon, 3, 305-325. Shamali, O. (2014). Draft on the Progress Report On the State of infrastructures of water sector in Orontes Basin (Syrian part). Thoumin, R. (1936). Le Ghab. Revue de Géographie Alpine, 24(3), 467–538. doi:10.3406/rga.1936.3539 Weulersse, J. (1940). L’Oronte: étude de fleuve, Arrault et Cie, Tours. Thèse complémentaire.

Citation for downloads from this site: Jaubert R., Saadé-Sbeih M., Al Dbiyat M., Haj Asaad A., (Eds), 2015, Atlas of the Orontes River Basin, Water Security - Orontes River Basin, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Global Program Water Initiatives Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Retrieved [date Accessed] from www.water-security.org.