]> 2026-09-29T13:03:44+02:00 Regular Complexities: Lebanon's Water Issues 0 en 10500 33.8886289,35.4954794 Strained Water Access Water Governance Water Quantity Water Quality Governance Ecosystems 4.2 Federated state/territorial/provincial government Sovereign state/national/federal government Local Government Industry/Corporate Interest Community or organized citizens Agriculture or Irrigation Domestic/Urban Supply Industry - consumptive use 2014-01-17T16:56:07Z 2456675.2056366 Regular Complexities: Lebanon's Water Issues 0 1 template 3 [[ASI:+]] [[Case Study::Regular Complexities: Lebanon's Water Issues]] Regular Complexities: Lebanon's Water Issues# QUERYd250d0526061f0cf335761f43b9cc622 0 [8,"smw-constraint-error-allows-value-list","Arid\/desert (K\u00f6ppen B-type); Dry-summer","Moist tropical (K\u00f6ppen A-type), Semi-arid\/steppe (K\u00f6ppen B-type), Arid\/desert (K\u00f6ppen B-type), Humid mid-latitude (K\u00f6ppen C-type), Continental (K\u00f6ppen D-type), Moist, Monsoon, Dry-summer, Dry-winter, cold-climate (permafrost, tundra, polar), ...","Climate"] Regular Complexities: Lebanon's Water Issues# ERR96ebd2bde492267ceaf5b922f2b54598 0 [8,"smw-constraint-error-allows-value-list","agricultural- cropland and pasture, industrial use","agricultural- cropland and pasture, agricultural- confined livestock operations, conservation lands, industrial use, mining operations, forest land, rangeland, urban, urban- high density, religious\/cultural sites","Land Use"] Regular Complexities: Lebanon's Water Issues# ERR76ccac00b166651c0532c92a2995719b 0 The current state of mismanagement and authority provides a strong basis for an inclusive planning process. Top-down authority is weak already, thus including many local and regional actors should be natural. This also would help to address the regional power structures that have been outside the national government structure. Furthermore, the current challenges are large and require buy-in from the entire population. The government is under-resourced in staff capacity and financially (El-Fadel) so there should be a sizable incentive to bring additional parties into the planning process for ideas but also investment options. Regular Complexities: Lebanon's Water Issues# 6394bd8fafcd48745a7830e46d8d7a61 0 National policies have been influential to local users, yet not in a positive way. This can be seen in that only 47% of households were connected to the public water network in 2007 (UNESCWA), illegal connections to the water network (El-Fadel) or that there is a general disregard to the environmental policies by the public (Daily Star). Decades of conflict and unrest eroded the capacity for many federal and local government agencies – water included. Masri (1997) also notes that soil, wildlife, forestry, along with water and other natural resources has a long history of neglect and mismanagement. The lack of capacity has since translated to a crumbling infrastructure (El-Fadel) and a disillusioned population that has little to no expectation from their government. ‘Non-sustainable development and a lack of awareness’ (ARD Report) also highlight a lack of oversight of water resources from the government. This has been exasperated by the structure for water management agencies, but truly is represented in the lack of accountability of those responsible for water governance. Regular Complexities: Lebanon's Water Issues# 95c8831805b61ea7a544dd3794b0bf6f 0 Involving all relevant stakeholders would go far beyond government ministries or local water districts to bring in representatives from agriculture, tourism, industry, conservation, and others. This will help with building trust and also transparency to the decisions, while ultimately achieving buy-in among the stakeholders. Values Many stakeholders only acknowledge actions that have taken place or plan for a terminal output, such as a dam or irrigation diversion. This ‘conclusion thinking’ disregards the values and underlying principles that guide those wants. Ultimately, this limits creativity and drives a ‘winner and loser’ negotiation where one achieves the end goal, or they are unsatisfied with the result. By working to identify underlying values, more creativity can produce deeper and far reaching results for many more parties. This step supports the notion that the resources available could be much larger than, creating a ‘bigger pie.’ In a peri-developed country in the process of rebuilding, acknowledging common goals and understandings can have a far-reaching impact beyond the realm of water. Accountability Accountability from within and outside the country is important to build trust in the process of any agreement. Being held to agreements and priorities is vital in a country where skepticism between stakeholders is rampant. A non-partisan third party with authority over all stakeholders is necessary to make this achievable. Establishing this outside party would prove difficult, as neutrality is scarce, especially within a single nation, but an outside party that is able to cut through local and national politics would be vital to the process. Regular Complexities: Lebanon's Water Issues# 11e3091bd2d248e58d10a2b09f948498 Case Study 102 en Case Study