CONFIRMING THE INTERNATIONAL ROLE OF COMMUNITY RESEARCH

SMARTSustainable Management of Scarce Resources in the Coastal Zone

Proposal N° ICA3-2001-1003

Call Identifier: INCO-MED A3 (ICFP501A3PR02)

Region: MCP

Research Area: (d)

NCRS (Lebanon) – The proposed case study in Lebanon:

Name: Tripoli – Batroun Coastal Area

1 .Physical Characteristics

The area stretches along the northern Lebanese coast covering Tripoli City in the north, the second largest in Lebanon, southward to the town of Batroun, i.e. about 430 km2. The coastline length is about 30 km, and the coastal zone width varies between 8-12 km inland. The area typifies the Lebanese coast in consisting of a narrow plain followed inland by a series of foothills, plateaux, then rising through steep slopes to the coastal mountain chain. It is crossed by a river (Abou Ali) passing in Tripoli and another minor one (El-Jawz) near Batroun, with intermittent streams, dentritic drainage and dry wadis. It is hot sub-humid at the coast becoming milder inland.

Precipitation essentially covers two ranges from coastline inward, 800-950 mm, and 900-1000 mm annually, though it falls within 3-4 months episodically and often torrential. But almost 50% of the water is lost through evaporation. Karst systems are rather well developed, which explains both the fresh-water springs in the marine environment and sea-water intrusion through fractures and conduits: In the coastal area, especially where water demand is stressing, water wells are drilled abundantly, and yet with very loose control, further stressing the hydro-regime.

Table 1: Physical and hydrological properties of the major Rivers in SMART region of Lebanon 

No River Average annual

discharge (Mm3/year)

Length (curved)

(km)

Area (km2)

Relief gradient (m/km)

Drainage density D (km/km2)

Major sources of replenishment

1 Al-Bared River

168 37 284 25 1.05 Nabaa Essoukar and the melting

snow

2 Abou-Ali River

369 42 482 46 1.20 Nabaa Qadisha,Nabaa Mar

Sarkis, Nabaa Rachaien and the

melting snow

3 El-Jouz River 82 33 196 42 0.92 Nabaa El-Jouz, Nabaa Dalle and the melting snow : Tannourine, Arrez and Niha regions

Table 3: Major issuing springs in the SMART region of Lebanon 

No Spring Discharge(m3/sec)

Source rock formation

Springs type

1 El-Jouz 2.20 C4 Karstic

2 Dalle 1.93 C1-J6 Overflow

3 Qadisha 1.50 C4 Fault

4 Mar Sarkis 0.5 C4 Fault

5 Essoukkar 0.3 C3- C4 Overflow

 

Table 5: Major aquifers in the SMART region of Lebanon 

Aquifer Sannine L.st. (C4)

(Cenomanian)

Bikfaya L.st.(J6)

(Up.Portlandian)

Kesrouan L.st.(J4)

(Bajocian-Kimmeridjian)

  

Lithology

Thin bedded to massive, highly fractured, jointed,

chertified and well karstified dolomitic limestone and limestone with some thin beds of marly limestone

Thick bedded to massive, highly fissured

and jointed and well karstified limestone and

dolomitic limestone

Thick bedded to massive, fractured,

karstified dolomites and dolomitic limestone with

marl intercalations

Piezometric Level (m)

16.5 (fluctuated) 44 (fluctuated) no data

Transmissivity (m2/sec)

2.5x10-6-5.9x10-6 2.3x10-6-3.2x10-6 as J6

Sea water intrusion is selectively developed in places more than others, this is clear from the drilled wells near El-Beddaoui, Tripoli and Enfeh. The Cenomanian aquifer has similar characteristics regarding the salt water intrusion in the coastal area, where structural controls are accompanied with large pumping rates. The Senonian, sometimes serves as a barrier layer over the Cenomanian ; but in some localities where fissuring and faulting are developed, it doesn’t fulfill the aquiclude role.

2 .The Natural System

A few km transect of Lebanese territory from the coast inland can range from a coastal sub-tropical, through middle typically Mediterranean slopes. These zonal variations account for the wide variability of ecosystems and landscapes within a limited area. The most serious types of dangers on the ecosystems are flower destruction, droughts, overgrazing and urban development. The main trees in the forest area are: Oak, Pine, Pistachio, and Carob.

Due to the water shortage for irrigation and the urban encroachment, citrus plantations along the shore line are practically disappearing, while olive groves are persisting and constituting the largest area in the country.

In plateaux, greenhouses have spread dramatically which, because of improper control of watering, fertilizing and use of agro-chemicals have led to soil, ground water pollution and salinization.

It is unfortunate that neither a sewage network, nor wastewater control, nor proper solid waste collection and/or disposal are implemented yet. Most need upgrading, or to actually install a service system. The major problem is the seepage of pollutants, leachates, and chemicals into the ground water affecting its quality. Thus, often spring water is polluted, and water-related diseases, especially in the suburban and rural areas, are recurrent.

3 .Land Use of the Area

The major urban complex is Tripoli, with about 300000 people in the city, which may add another 100000 from the surroundings. It used to be a dominantly agricultural region, but the last three decades witnessed a rapid agression of urban construction, including some industries, recreations and power plants at the expense of agriculture. The urban/rural interface around Tripoli has changed dramatically with great losses in prime land and resources. The immediate coastal foothills are highly urbanized close to cities, but outside they are cultivated. In the Chekka stretch and north of Batroun there are heavy industries, phosphoric acid, asbestos tiles/pipes and cement. This is among the highest polluted areas in Lebanon, where quarrying, water, soil and air pollution is very noticeable.

Touristic pressure is a matter of concern in the area as it is typical of the Region, and there is a fairly dense road network for easy accessibility. There are many venues of significance, both in the cities, and scattered elsewhere including archaeological as well as scenic sites inland along the coastal valleys. Sites include a series of castles, old religious, monasteries, traditional Lebanese style houses, and Tripoli is famous for its Mamelouk-era structures, mosques and old schools. Natural sites include gorges, canyons, series of caves, water falls and some forestry.

4 .The Management System

There are many problems encountered along the area, and they can be categorized as natural or human-made. The former include forest fires, strong erosion during heavy rains, droughts and some difficult inaccessible terrain with rock falls and landslides, as well as coastal floods and relative rise in sea level. Forest fires also occur due to human interference, as are the more serious problems in the area. These include unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, i.e. quarrying, destroying scenic terrain, degrading forests, eroding soils, blocking natural beaches, extracting sediments, polluting and depleting water.

There are three human induced stresses in the area: chaotic urban sprawl, improper agricultural practices, and tourism. Uncontrolled development is in several areas threatening natural amenities. So long as the local municipalities are rather weak, i.e. in administrative aspects, finance plus lack of technology, know-how and man-power, it would be difficult to solve pollution problems due to waste water, domestic solid and hospital wastes. With episodic soil erosion from climate extremes and the uncontrolled human interference, siltation is often a problem, especially with the water treatment plant, and pollution by olive agroindustry (olive dregs).

It is unfortunate that up to this moment there are no integrated approaches followed that would secure the most suitable management, not to mention a sustainable one. Coordination among the multitude of public agencies in Lebanon is lacking, which makes it more difficult to improve quality control, and implement relevant policies. In this regard, the “strategy of the Environment”, i.e. at Ministry of Environment (MoE) has been studied and proposed several times together with its policies … but ratifying it by the Parliament is a slow process.

The lacking needed integrated approaches, and capacity building of employees in vital sectors, i.e. water, agriculture, land-use … are very significant. Environmental regulations are being upgraded and homogenized, but again implementing them is weakly controlled. Recently, EIA is being worked on by the MoE to be introduced as a binding process for projects. Until this is properly implemented, the environment is suffering and affecting the quality of living.