Water Environment in the Coastal Basins of Syria - Assessing the Impacts of the War

Abstract

The water environment in the Syrian coastal basins was already under pressure over the past decade (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010) due to recurring drought and increased water demand. The armedconflict, which started in 2011, had resulted in the displacement of more than 1.45 million people from the inland regions towards the coastal area. This study investigates the impact of war and conflict on the water environment in the coastal river basins of Syria. An evaluation of existing water sources, water uses, and pollution sources is made to highlight the major driving forces and stresses using a pre-war, during the war, and a post-war scenario. A reference time frame between 2000 and 2010 is used as a reference for these scenarios. The impact of war on the water environment is discussed next. Different actions and adaptation measures in a post-conflict scenario are presented and discussed. At present 4.45 million persons are living in the coastal area (compared to 3 million before 2011). The governmental management capacity had reduced to 30 % compared to that before war. An evaluation of major water scarcity indicators revealed a decline in renewable water resources (including groundwater reserves). It is estimated that the water scarcity index reduced from~760 m 3 /capita/year during pre-war dry years to less than 500 m 3 /capita/year during the war. The impact of war also revealed an increase in pollution risks due to the uncontrolled water abstraction, lack of management and decreased water accessibility. Proposed measures in a post conflict scenario suggest that water demand and water quality can be restored to the status quo using suitable economic development options.

Water in war: Understanding the impacts of armed conflict on water resources and their management

“…Next to a decline in water supply coverage, the decrease in operational capacity can also affect water quality and ecosystem health. This was shown in Syria where the lack of governmental oversight led to a decrease in compliance with environmental regulations and an increase in the discharge of untreated wastewater (Faour & Fayad, 2014).…”

“…For instance, during the Gulf War, water resources in Kuwait were heavily polluted from oil spills following attacks on oil fields (Literathy, 1992), increasing the concentration of trace metals along the coast in the Persian Gulf (Bu‐Olayan, Subrahmanyam, Al‐Sarawi, & Thomas, 1998) and impacting regional aquaculture (Mathews, Kedidi, Fita, Al‐Yahya, & Al‐Rasheed, 1993). During the Syrian civil war, discharge of untreated wastewater into the environment, both intentionally and unintentionally, deteriorated the water quality in affected areas (Faour & Fayad, 2014). Following the civil war in Sri Lanka, explosive remnants of war, such as landmines, remained scattered throughout the landscape.…”

“…Modeling studies on the other hand include conflict impacts as explicit parameters in their models or as changes in the value of model parameters. For instance, Faour and Fayad (2014) develop an assessment model to estimate the impact of the Syrian civil war on future water availability in coastal areas of Syria, which includes factors such as water demand fluctuations due to internal displacement and infrastructure damages.…”

Hundred percent renewable wastewater treatment plant: techno-economic assessment using a ret screen, case study Syria

“…A review of the literature on the state of water resources in the Syrian coastal region between 2000 and 2010 was conducted by the authors Faour, G., and Fayad, A. [17]. When it comes to the socio-economic development of arid and semi-arid nations, groundwater is one of the most important factors.…”

Climate Resilience and Social Assistance in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings

“…For example, camps may be sites of extreme climate vulnerability given their dense populations, limited livelihood opportunities, poor infrastructures, and often very shallow natural resource bases, which quite understandably can quickly become over-exploited. For example, there is a well-established pattern of extreme groundwater and fuelwood depletion around camps (Buchanan-Smith and McElhinney 2011;Hagenlocher, Lang and Tiede 2012;Faour and Fayad 2014;Kranz, Sachs and Lang 2015;Al Wreikat and Al Kharabsheh 2020). Informal slums in peri-urban areas are likewise typically densely populated and poorly served by water, sanitation, and electricity infrastructures, making them very vulnerable to climate-related risks and, in turn, increasing the strain and demands on social assistance programmes.…”