Impacts of the Greater Beirut Water Supply Project

ENAR

The planned Bisri Dam and reservoir is but one component of the World Bank-funded Greater Beirut Water Supply Project (GBWSP) that claims it will increase short-term supply of potable water to Greater Beirut by 250,000 cubic meters per day (m3/d) with approximately 1.6 million residents expected to benefit, including 460,000 low-income residents. The GBWSP goes beyond Bisri to draw water from two independent watersheds, the Litani River watershed and the Awali River watershed, in so doing multiplying the impact outside of Bisri. While conveying water from one watershed to another (inter-basin water transfer) is common practice, it is normally applied only when the waters are abundant in the source area and a portion can be transferred to the target area where it is less available.  Why does this matter?   A watershed, also called a drainage basin, refers to the total area of the terrain that channels rainfall and snowmelt to