This book presents a collection of chapters covering research on the Litani River Basin. The Litani River Basin occupies about a quarter of Lebanon's surface area, and it has recently been subject to severe geo-environmental conditions such as water contamination and decreased discharge. This motivated the Lebanese government to take action and start working on the remediation of the river. These actions are also supported by international organizations including the World Bank.

This book presents a collection of chapters covering research on the Litani River Basin. The Litani River Basin occupies about a quarter of Lebanon's surface area, and it has recently been subject to severe geo-environmental conditions such as water contamination and decreased discharge. This motivated the Lebanese government to take action and start working on the remediation of the river. These actions are also supported by international organizations including the World Bank.

This book presents both updated and new measurements on water resources from selective pilot areas form the Middle East. Demand for water has become very crucial notably in arid and semiarid regions like in the Middle East. The changing climate and the increased population are the most striking challenges on water resources in this region where the largest part of its territory is dry lands and deserts with minimal precipitation and high evaporation rates, and thus, the average per capita of water does not exceed 25 m3/year. This resulted in developing many studies and researches in different Middle East countries to clearly identify and assess the hydrological characteristics of the available water resources and to explore new resources in order to secure balanced water supply/demand. As a first of its type, this book introduces comprehensive knowledge on the successful reports of the use of satellite images in water studies in the Middle East, and the economic value resulted from adopting these techniques. Based on illustrated case-studies the book will represent a significant resource for a large number of experts, academics, researchers, engineers and different-level stakeholders including the decision makers.

Water has become a challenging resource that many countries worldwide are concerned with. Thus, water is often linked with health, society development, national income and even international geo-politics. Sometimes, water resources are unavailable, but successful management involves developing approaches and projects to assure water supply. However, there are some countries with available water resources, but unsatisfactory management, and thus complain about water supply becoming a national problem. This situation is prevalent in Lebanon, a country characterized by abundant water resources whether on the surface or sub-surface. It is a paradox that there is still imbalance in water supply/demand in Lebanon, and water resources are now under stress due to chaotic use. This has been exacerbated by the oscillating climatic conditions, increased population and improper management. Therefore, people receive less than one-third of their water needs, and most water supplied is of poor quality. The current status shows a descending trend. Undoubtedly, if the water sector in Lebanon continues this way, we should anticipate unfavourable (and may be severe) consequences. Many studies have been conducted on water and related disciplines in Lebanon; however, all of them focus on specific themes and sometimes defined regions. Nevertheless, the occurred changes on the influencers (natural and man-made) have not been considered. This book is the first of its type for Lebanon, and it shows all aspects of water resources with updated measurements and findings obtained by adopting new techniques. It diagnoses in-depth the major elements of water flow/storage mechanism that have never been covered in such a comprehensive manner before. Also, this book introduces and analyses the existing challenges and proposes solutions. It represents a comprehensive investigation of the water resources in Lebanon.

Water resources in the Middle East are barely enough to cope with human demand, and their scarcity is a matter of discussion in many conclaves. However, it must be clarified that Lebanon has a rugged topography that sets it apart from the surrounding regions. Its small area of 10,452 km2 is characterised by a mountainous terrain marked by several valley systems. Two mountain chains (Mount Lebanon to the west and Anti-Lebanon to the east) extend parallel to the Mediterranean Sea, and are separated by the Bekaa Plain, which comprises a relatively wide depression. Hence, Lebanon has many sources of surface water including rivers, springs, snowfalls and lakes; besides, many aquiferous rock formations and karstic conduits exist where groundwater can accumulate via seeping. However, complaints concerning the lack of understanding about the imbalanced water supply/demand in Lebanon are often a matter of debate, and the water budget is also not well-formulated yet. Added to the matter of water shortage and deterioration in quality thereof, challenges for water resources have only exacerbated. Thus, there are parallel paths stemming from both natural and human driving forces leading to increasing water stress. Climate change, pollution, over-exploitation and the mismanagement of trans-boundary water resources are amongst the geo-environmental problems that affect these resources. In particular, shared water is one of the major water problems in Lebanon. To put this issue into perspective, more than 74% of Lebanons border is shared with neighbouring countries, which makes the surface and groundwater intermingle with neighbouring regions; thus, no volumetric measures are known. Two shared rivers exist between Lebanon and its neighbours: one with Syria in the north, and the other with the Palestinian Territory (PT) in the south. In addition, the three major aquiferous rock formations of Lebanon are interrelated with neighbouring regions. To date, there is no credible study to assess and allocate the shared water resources. Consequently, geo-political conflicts frequently arise due to the obscure nature of the hydrologic conditions. In addition, the absence of treaties and agreements is another reason affecting water sharing, which constitutes the principal cause of water loss. This is totally governed by the unstable political situation in the region. This book aims to highlight the principles of Lebanons water resources with new numeric measures. It will also reveal the major elements of the striking challenges. Thus, the fundamental hydrologic aspects of shared water resources in Lebanon, including quantitative measures and the spatial extent of these resources will be illustrated.