Around 70% of Lebanese People are at risk of losing access to drinking water. The reason is “Water Stress”.

Water Stress levels Worldwide versus Lebanon

Water stress, defined as the imbalance between water demand and the available water, is a global issue that threatens ecosystems and human well-being. As population growth, climate change, and unsustainable water management practices continue to feed this problem, it is crucial to explore effective solutions.

Looking at the past two decades data, we notice that there is a global increasing trend in the level of water stress. In Lebanon, the water stress situation is reaching critical levels. As shown in the below visual, the trend is significantly increasing on the long term, with negligible improvement since year 2015. The demand for water is continually increasing, while available sources are becoming increasingly strained.

In Lebanon nowadays, 1.7 million people have access to only 35 liters a day (80% decrease vs national average). There is a lack of maintenance, inability to store water with old infrastructure and water networks. In addition, there is a drop in groundwater level and pollution of the resources.

A Solution to Alleviating Water Stress

One solution lies in improving water productivity, which focuses on maximizing efficiency in water usage.
This can be done through the adoption of water-efficient practices like replacing high water consuming crops with lower-consuming ones, adopting management and systems improvements, reducing the unusable water losses by conserving it for other uses.

By implementing integrated water resource management strategies, we can optimize water usage and secure a sustainable water future.
Countries have started to implement water productivity practices. However, the declining trend in water productivity levels in Lebanon indicates a relative lack of efforts compared to the global context.

A Glimmer of Hope – when examining the relationship between “Water Stress” and “Water Productivity”

The good news is here!

It is evident that there exists a connection between water stress levels and water productivity. As depicted in the below visual, there is a milder escalation in water stress as productivity rises. (The coefficient of the productivity trendline is 1.8, whereas the coefficient of the water stress trendline is 0.3.)

How is Lebanon doing currently in terms of the proposed solution

The map below shows that Lebanon is from the countries that are doing less efforts. Unlike other countries, there is a decline in water productivity which will keep increasing the water stress levels.

Recommendations

It is highly recommended that Lebanon embraces the principles of improving water productivity. Those are like Educating stakeholders (people at home, farmers, etc..) about water-efficient practices, improving water Storage, recycling and reusing water in public operations. By adopting water management practices like those, we can ensure a more resilient and water-secure future in Lebanon for generations to come.

In conclusion, “Water Stress” poses a significant challenge to the sustainability and well-being of both ecosystems and human societies. However, by prioritizing and improving “Water Productivity”, we can take significant strides towards alleviating this stress.

References:
UNICEF-supported assessment based on data collected by Lebanon’s four main public water utility companies in 2021
(PDF) Basic Concepts of Water Productivity (researchgate.net)