Agriculture is the sector with by far the largest consumptive water use and withdrawal. Irrigation requirements are highly variable from year to year, depending on rainfall.

The Ministry of Water and Environment was established in May 2003 to reorganize the water sector, with the aim of creating an institutional structure for integrated water resources management and to prepare the necessary institutional and investment conditions to face the worsening water situation

Syria has, like most MENA countries, invested heavily in technology and infrastructure to store and divert water resources and to deliver water services to farmers, industries and households