Developed in consultation with the Syrian government, the Assi scheme aims to develop water resources in the basin for irrigation, domestic use and hydropower.

Internationally, a water availability below 1,000 m3 per person per year is defined as water scarcity, while below 500 m3 is considered “absolute scarcity”. Jordan’s lack of water resources impacts the country’s economic growth, political stability and national security, but also public health.

Lebanon has announced the construction of the dam via the United Nations as per the UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (to which Israel is not a signatory), which stipulates that signatories must give “prior notification of planned measures”. The plan is currently pending.

The NWSS is designed to ensure “water supply, irrigation and sanitation services throughout Lebanon on a continuous basis and at optimal service levels, with a commitment to environmental, economic and social sustainability”.

Around 92% of Lebanon’s sewage flows into rivers and the sea untreated. Wastewater management is fragmented, with responsibility for project planning and implementation (treatment facilities and connections to networks) split between the CDR, water establishments and municipalities.

Lebanon’s first water laws date back to Ottoman times. They were later amended during the French Mandate and after independence. The Lebanese water sector was restructured following a revision of its legal framework in 2000.

Israel’s population has grown from an estimated 806,000 inhabitants in 1948 to around 7.73 million people in 2013 – an increase of more than 800% in 67 years.

further reading to Lebanon country file

Incomplete network coverage, water rationing and other shortfalls in the public water supply system have led many Lebanese to take matters into their own hands and seek their own solutions to water supply.