Water Status in the Syrian Water Basins

Khaldoon A. Mourad, Ronny Berndtsson

.

DOI: 10.4236/ojmh.2012.21003                

Abstract

Syrian water resources face economic and physical water scarcity. This together with a large population and development increase and the climate change may lead to increasing risks for international controversies and disputes in the coming decades. According to FAO, the available water resource per capita AWPC is going to be half by 2025. Depending on its seven water basins, this paper analyses water demand and supply in the Syria with their projections till 2050. The paper shows that two of the seven Syrian basins need a specific concern as they face water scarcity problem. However, two basins have extra water. Therefore, the paper focuses on the need for a sustainable water management, which takes all nonconventional water resources into account to contribute in the Syrian water balance such as rainwater harvesting and wastewater reuse.

Keywords

Renewable water; Middle East; Sanitation; Water harvesting

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	FAO—Food and Agriculture Organization. Aquastat da- tabase: Syria Arab Republic, 2011. http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries/syria/index.stm
[2]	P. Kerkides, H. Michalopoulou, G. Papaioannou and R. Pollatou, “Water Balance Estimates over Greece,” Agri- culture Water Management, Vol. 32, No. 1, 1996, pp: 85- 104. doi:10.1016/S0378-3774(96)01251-6
[3]	L. Zhang, N. Potter, K. Hickel, Y. Zhang and Q. Shao, “Water Balance Modeling over Variable Time Scales Based on the Budyko Framework-Model Development and Testing,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 360, No. 1-4, 2008, pp: 117-131. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.07.021
[4]	R. C. Owen, “Water Budget and Flow Patterns in an Urban Wetland,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 169, No. 1-4, 1995, pp: 171-187. doi:10.1016/0022-1694(94)02638-R
[5]	CBS-SYR. Central Bureau of Statistics of Syria, Popula- tion and Demographic Indicators, 2011. http://www.cbssyr.org
[6]	CBS-SYR, Central Bureau of Statistics of Syria, Number of Private Industrial Projects in Syria, 2011. From http://www.cbssyr.org/Time%20Series/economic1.htm
[7]	GCSAR—General Commission for Scientific Agricultu- ral Research, Country Profile Syria, 2011. http://www.gewamed.net/share/img_country_information/12_read_more...pdf
[8]	Z. Kattan, “Characterization of Surface Water and Ground- water in the Damascus Ghotta Basin: Hydrochemical and Environmental Isotopes Approaches,” Environmental Ge- ology, Vol. 51, No. 2, 2006, pp: 173-201.
[9]	MoI-SYR, Ministry of Irrigation in Syria. Agreements with Neighboring Countries, 2011. http://www.irrigation.gov.sy/index.php?m=118
[10]	N. W. Arnell, “Climate Change and Global Water Reso- urces,” Global Environment Change, Vol. 9, Suppl. 1, 1999, pp. S31-S49. doi:10.1016/S0959-3780(99)00017-5
[11]	M. J. Trondalen, “Climate Changes, Water Security and Possible Remedies for the Middle East,” Scientific Paper from Potential Conflict to Co-operation Potential (UNE- SCO PCCP, 2009. http://www.unwater.org/downloads/181886E.pdf