Hydro Agricultural Development Project in Marjeyoun Area

The initial project is the “Canal 800” project on the Litani River, which is a series of distribution networks designed to provide water for irrigation from the “Qaroun” Dam in West Bekaa to an area of about 15,000 hectares south of the Litani River in South Lebanon.

The “Hydro Agricultural Development Project of Marjeyoun” is a pilot project on the Canal 800 that will establish the methodology to be followed for implementing canal 800.

It will set the infrastructure for the distribution network, will show the advantages and efficiency of modern irrigation techniques, will propose the new cropping patterns in the region with their socio-economic impact, and will support the establishment of a very much needed Water Users Association. The project will have a direct impact on the livelihood of the local communities affected by the July 2006 war on Lebanon by extending the areas suitable for agriculture and will provide direct assistance to the farmers through providing them with wheat seeds, or other field crops, to be cultivated on their lands for two consecutive years.

The project covers an area of approximately 522 hectares in the “Marjeyoun” North Perimeter, and specifically targets the towns of “Burghos”, “Blat”, “Dibbine”, “Ibl Essaki”, and “Jdaydit Marjeyoun”. More than 1,259 farmers are expcted to benefit from the project activities.

This project is funded by the Government of Spain through the Lebanon Recovery Fund (LRF) that was established shortly after the 2006 war on Lebanon. The United Nations Development Programme (UND P) is managing the funds and implementation of this project in close collaboration with the national partners, the Litani River Authority and the Association of the Friends of Ibrahim Abd El Al, which initiated the project. AFIAL is responsible for the creation, preparation of legislation, and implementation of the Water Users Association.




SWAP

The Association is partner in the Mediterranean Dialogue on Framing Sustainability in Water Policy Evaluation – SWAP.
http://swap.iamb.it/

The project intends to stimulate communication and dialogue on the problem of policy evaluation in the Mediterranean agricultural water sector and the need of developing a regional and generalized frame of variables and indicators for participatory policy evaluation.



Having national or regional policies aligned towards sustainability is worth to enhance sustainable development of the water sector in the entire region. In order to ensure sustainable development of water sector, evaluation of policy implementation must take into account the main international principles, the real societal needs accounting goals and indicators of sustainability raised in a participatory process.
The main objective of the project is to contribute to the strengthening of knowledge and assessment capability in water policy making and implementation in a Mediterranean context. This main objective will contribute to improving Euro-Mediterranean policy alignment towards sustainability, supporting the more general European strategy of sustainable development.
Another important contribution will be given to the further alignment of future cooperative research projects towards sustainable development and to water management in its whole.


AFIAL’s tasks in the project were:

Identification and selection of stakeholders
Contacting stakeholders and verifying availability
Building fora
Preparation of questionnaires for stakeholder analysis
Survey
Elaboration of survey results
Local meeting for project presentation, discussion of stakeholders analysis, and defining fora agenda
Conveying stakeholders in meetings and guide discussion
Stimulating stakeholders in making more explicit the economic, social, environmental and institutional priorities to which the policy under evaluation is specifically targeted
Defining of sustainability goals and indicators that are more relevant for the community involved in the policy implementation
Assessing the effective availability of data and information to measure the indicators
A time table for the data collection and elaboration
Collecting and analyzing of information and data monitor achievement of goals according to indicators.
Conveying the fora in a cycle of local meeting for discussion of ongoing work for validating the work
Preparing recommendations for policy-makers and politics
Reviewing evaluation policy results including perspectives and recommendations


SPI-WATER

Another project the Association is involved as a sub-contractor for the Litani River Authority (LRA) is Science-Policy Interfacing in support of the Water Framework Directive implementation (SPI-Water)- www.spi-water.eu
WISE-RTD, a web-portal developed by the SPI, forwards to websites that contain information relevant for the implementation of the European Water Framework. www.wise-rtd.info

The SPI-Water’s objectives are the following:

  1. Analysis and evaluation of projects in the field of river basin management that are of potential use for the WFD implementation.
  2. Dissemination activities through the use of a science-policy interfacing instrument in the context of the development of WFD river basin management plans.
  3. Development of EU Water Initiative/WFD joint process activities for facilitating the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management principles in non EU countries.

AFIAL’s tasks in the project:

  1. Detailed GIS Maps and reference data on the subjects:
    Geographical limits of Water Authorities mandates in Litani River Basin (LRB)
    LRA gauging stations location
    Defining LRB sub-catchments
    Forest cover and change in LRB
    Settlement distribution within LRB
    Main aquifers in LRB

  2. Data collection on the subjects:
    Environmental and water legal framework
    Domestic and industrial water demands in LRB
    Protected areas in LRB

  3. Researching the following:
    Existing and planned LRA irrigation projects
    Hydrological structures of LRA
    Roads in LRB
    Solid waste disposal sites
    Major sources of sewage in the basin
    Desertification
    Flood prone areas
    Queries in the basin
    Water bodies in the basin