Regardless of what will be discussed today in the Cabinet around Janna dam, regardless of the contradicting files being tackled by those that are with or against the establishment of the dam, and regardless of any dispute that might arise on this subject (which can have multiple and explosive aspects) … this issue, as all the other strategic (or normal) issues in Lebanon, is being discussed in the wrong place, and at the wrong plans and approaches.
We can also assert that every dispute around it between officials, could be described as non-objective, knowing that there are many purposes behind it… Both parties have ignored tackling the roots of the water crisis for too long, and giving this strategic topic the attention it deserves.
If we followed the history of the evolution of the water issue in Lebanon, we will find that we are still subject to an outdated scientific, cultural, political and strategic structure, based on the argument that mentions the need to collect water behind exposed dams, and that talks about squandering the water that naturally ends up in the sea!
Although the word “squandering” is only valid when it is used to talk about squandering, pollution, stealing, and illegal selling of water transmission networks.
The dispute in Lebanon always takes the easy means, with or against a particular project, and the “water authorities” are usually involved in making inappropriate deals, based on studies intended to invest in a certain sector. Unfortunately, the water authorities’ goal is not providing water for people and protecting this resource from squandering, theft and pollution.
Thus, one can understand what was called the “ten-year plan” that existed, in terms of planning and spending, on exposed dams projects, until establishing the Janna dam in 2007.
The person writing these lines has always been against the non-strategic water policy, and has always been pushing towards backing off from expensive and dangerous construction projects, without the presence of a strategy that emerges from water being a public property, since it comes within an integrated ecological system, that is not separate from it.
It also requires starting from what is “given” by nature first (available surface water), and planning for the proper utilization of the “given” (with a long-lasting update of the studies and the development of the essential devices to estimate the continuous flow from the springs), before getting involved in blocking the running water or tracing the groundwater, in parallel with the application of policies aiming at stopping squandering and theft, in addition to distribution and fair pricing policies, after conducting the necessary studies for all uses of water in all sectors, towards the imposition of ways to save water … etc., If we have gone in this direction earlier, we would have spared lots of squandering and unnecessary projects, and a lot of faulty deals.
After our various objections on the ten-year plan and the “Chabrouh dam” project, all of these ideas and objections were put in a study, which we worked on preparing from 2009 until 2010, in order to request the development of a strategy for water management in Lebanon in light of climate change. If adopted, it will not require dams as much as it will require the mentioned integrated policies. A national conference was held with the Ministry of environment and the ministry of energy in 2010 to present this study.
The Ministry of energy and water slightly responded to the pressure, but the Ministry of Environment was absent, and was not fully aware of the seriousness of this issue and its role in the development and review of the strategies in all sectors.
The Ministry of Environment believed that its role is to conduct the environmental impact assessment of the dam projects, and not to conduct an integrated water management strategy!
The Ministry of Energy and Water admitted that there is no strategy, saying it is preparing one, and it has actually finished it in 2010 and announced it on 27/12/2011. The Cabinet approved it on 09/03/2012 in a decision no. 2.
Despite that this strategy that is mostly based on the construction of surface dams is unnecessary, knowing that it came to complement the ten-year plan, which is also complained of, since it was not a strategy at all … we did not hear the voices of many people who are against Janna Dam today!
The dangerous and unnecessary dam projects in other areas did not receive similar objections, which led us to ask about the reasons that led those defending the establishment of the dam, and deal owners, to be in a better position, while the credibility of the objectors decreased, although they’re the closest to the truth, which means that there is no need for surface dams, such as “Janna” dam, and other dams, if we applied the required strategies that we have always wrote about.
On the occasion of the debate around the Janna Dam, will the debate return to its origins and strategic rules, benefiting from the enthusiasts’ enthusiasm and from the energy of this issue? So we return to Lebanon’s “heaven” (Janna), with its distinctive ecosystem, and its renewed water resources, which we should protect and ensure the fairness of their distribution without the dams projects owned by those who “squander” water?
To be continued…
Translated from Arabic by Zeina Nasser
