Nwss - Baseline - Draft - V1 (1) .3

National Water
Sector Strategy
Baseline
Eng. Gebran Bassil
Ministry of Energy and Water, Lebanon
Draft – Work In Progress
September, 2010
0
Table of Contents
1 Water Sector Infrastructure .................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Production (Water Resources) .............................................................................................. 1
1.1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1
1.1.2 Surface water ................................................................................................................... 3
1.1.3 Groundwater.................................................................................................................... 5
1.2 Transmission and Distribution .............................................................................................. 7
1.2.1 Water Supply ................................................................................................................... 7
1.2.2 Irrigation ........................................................................................................................ 13
1.3 Wastewater ...................................................................................................................... 15
1.3.1 Collection ....................................................................................................................... 15
1.3.2 Treatment and disposal .................................................................................................. 16
1.4 Assessment of O&M policies and practices ......................................................................... 16
1.4.1 Current O&M policies ..................................................................................................... 16
1.4.2 Current operation and maintenance practices.................................................................. 16
1.5 Overview of private sector participation ............................................................................. 17
1.5.1 Description of Past and Current PSP Experiences .............................................................. 17
1.6 Water Quality.................................................................................................................... 19
1.6.1 State of water quality in Lebanon .................................................................................... 19
1.6.2 Pollution sources ............................................................................................................ 19
2 Water Sector Management ................................................................................................... 20
2.1 Institutional ...................................................................................................................... 20
2.1.1 Overview of sector performance ..................................................................................... 20
2.1.2 Assessment of the implementation of reform law 221/2000 ............................................. 21
2.1.3 Management models of MEW and WEs ........................................................................... 22
2.1.4 Review of manpower capacities and capabilities .............................................................. 25
2.1.5 Use of the private sector to address capacity shortages .................................................... 26
2.2 Financial and Commercial .................................................................................................. 27
2.2.1 Sources of revenues ....................................................................................................... 27
2.2.2 Water supply tariff structure ........................................................................................... 27
2.2.3 Billing and collection performance................................................................................... 29
2.2.4 Past expenditures (Capex and Opex) ................................................................................ 30
2.2.5 Cost of production .......................................................................................................... 31
2.3 Legal / Regulatory.............................................................................................................. 32
2.3.1 Laws governing the water sector ..................................................................................... 32
2.3.2 General legal regime ....................................................................................................... 32
2.3.3 The exceptions to the public domain principles ................................................................ 32
2.3.4 Groundwater.................................................................................................................. 33
2.3.5 Criminal Provisions ......................................................................................................... 33
2.3.6 International agreements in shared water resources ........................................................ 33
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2.3.7 Gaps in the current legal setup delaying Private Sector Participation in water sector .......... 34
2.3.8 Draft water code and its alignment with set strategic objectives ....................................... 35
2.3.9 Gaps and in water sector regulations ............................................................................... 35
3 Sector’s objectives and priorities ........................................................................................... 37
3.1 Overall Objective ............................................................................................................... 37
3.2 Water Sector Infrastructure ............................................................................................... 37
3.2.1 Production (and Treatment) ............................................................................................ 37
3.2.2 Transmission and Distribution ......................................................................................... 37
3.2.3 Wastewater ................................................................................................................... 37
3.3 Water Sector Management ................................................................................................ 37
3.3.1 Institutional ................................................................................................................... 37
3.3.2 Financial and Commercial ............................................................................................... 37
3.3.3 Legal and Regulatory ...................................................................................................... 38
ii
List of Figures
Figure 1: Water Sector Value Chain................................................................................................ 1

Figure 2: Current Water Balance for Lebanon (BCM/year) ............................................................... 2
Figure 3: Renewable Water Resources in MENA Countries .............................................................. 2
Figure 4: Concept of Submarine Springs ......................................................................................... 4
Figure 5: Dam Capacity as Percentage of Total Renewable Water Resources in MENA Region ........... 4
Figure 6: Potable Water Network Coverage in MENA Region ........................................................... 9
Figure 7: Continuity of Supply...................................................................................................... 10
Figure 8: Non-Revenue Water Rates in WEs ................................................................................. 10
Figure 9: Non-Revenue Water Rates in MENA Region ................................................................... 11
Figure 10: Total Revenues by Source of Supply (MUSD and Share of Total), Total Customer Base .... 12
Figure 11: Wastewater Network Coverage ................................................................................... 15
Figure 12: Treated Water Share of Total Water Consumed (%) ...................................................... 16
Figure 13: Current Institutional Setting and Commercial Relations................................................. 20
Figure 14: Current Organization Structure of MEW ....................................................................... 22
Figure 15: Current Organization Structures WEs ........................................................................... 22
Figure 16: Water and Wastewater Staffing Efficiency .................................................................... 25
Figure 17: Ratio of Average Tariff to GDP per Capita ..................................................................... 29
iii
List of Tables
Table 1: Average Flows in Water Courses ....................................................................................... 3

Table 2: Main Springs per WE ........................................................................................................ 3
Table 3: Existing Dams and Hill Lakes ............................................................................................. 5
Table 4: Ongoing and Committed Dams and Hill Lakes .................................................................... 5
Table 5: Estimation of Licensed Private Wells ................................................................................. 6
Table 6: Estimation of Illegal (Undeclared) Private Wells ................................................................. 6
Table 7 Registered Wells per WE, 2010 .......................................................................................... 6
Table 8: Average Yield & Well Pump Head per WE .......................................................................... 7
Table 9: Analysis of Network Age BMLWE ...................................................................................... 8
Table 10: Urbanization per WE & specific Network Length per subscriber, 2010 ............................... 8
Table 11: Pipe Length per WE, 2010............................................................................................... 8
Table 12: Storage Tanks per WE .................................................................................................... 8
Table 13: Assumed Average Age of Assets per WE, 2010 (years) .................................................... 11
Table 14: Documented CAPEX Replacement and Maintenance Expenses per WE, 2009 .................. 12
Table 15: Project Pipeline: summary of envisaged investments per WE.......................................... 13
Table 16: Current Irrigated Areas in Lebanon (ha) ......................................................................... 13
Table 17: Efficiencies and Consumption by Type of Irrigation ........................................................ 14
Table 18: Total Irrigation Water Requirements in 2010 (MCM/yr) ................................................. 14
Table 19: O&M of selected pumping stations funded by MEW (2009) ............................................ 18
Table 20: Staffing level of MoEW ................................................................................................. 23
Table 21: Staffing level of WEs..................................................................................................... 23
Table 23: Current Number of Employees, Percentage of Filled Positions and Total Cost .................. 26
Table 24: Water supply tariffs applied in Lebanese WEs ................................................................ 28
Table 25: Percentage of Metered Connections in Each WE ............................................................ 28
Table 26: Collection Efficiency in WEs, 2009 ................................................................................. 30
Table 27: Total Accounts Receivables and Collection Efficiency, 2009 ............................................ 30
Table 28: Total OPEX, 2009 ......................................................................................................... 30
Table 29: Total CAPEX, 2009 ........................................................................................................ 31
Table 30: Annual CAPEX .............................................................................................................. 31
Table 31: Unit operating cost (water sales and water production) ................................................. 31
iv
Abbreviations and Acronyms
AFD Agence Française pour le Développement

BCM Billion of Cubic Meters
BCM/yr Billion of Cubic Meters per Year
BLBP Billion of Lebanese Pounds
BMLWE Beirut & Mount Lebanon Water Establishment
BWE Baalbek Water Establishment
CAPEX Capital Expenditures
CAS Central Administration for Statistics
CDR Council for Development and Reconstruction
CFD Central Fund for the Displaced
CoS Council For the South
DG Director General
DGE Director General of Exploitation
DGHER Director General of Hydraulic and Electric Resources
EU European Union
FAS Finance and Accounting System
km Kilometer
LBP Lebanese Pounds
MENA Middle East and North Africa
MLBP Million of Lebanese Pounds
LRA Litani River Authority
m Meter
m3 Cubic Meter
MCM Million of Cubic Meters
MCM/yr Million of Cubic Meters per Year
MEW Ministry of Energy and Water
mm Millimeter
MUSD Millions of United States Dollars
NGO Non Government Organization
NLWE North Lebanon Water Establishment
NWSS National Water Sector Strategy
O&M Operation & Maintenance
OPEX Operational Expenditures
PER Public Expenditure Review
PPP Public Private Partnership
PSP Private Sector Participation
SLWE South Lebanon Water Establishment
USD United States Dollar
WB World Bank
WE Water Establishment
WUA Water Users’ Association
v
A. Water Sector Baseline
1 Water Sector Infrastructure
The water sector comprises several steps along the value chain
Figure 1: Water Sector Value Chain
1 Production (& Treatment) 2 Transmission & Distribution 3 Wastewater

Irrigation
Wells
Pump & Transmission Storage

Tank/Tower Distribution Wastewater
System Domestic/ Tourism/ Collection
Water Supply
Networks Commercial System

Dams
Treatment Works
Industrial
Springs/Rivers Industrial Wastewater
Pump & Transmission
Treatment Plant
System
Reuse Sewage Treatment Plant

Sanitation
Sewage
Sludge Lift Station
Sea Outfall Potable Water Wastewater
1.1 Production (Water Resources)
1.1.1 Introduction
Average annual rainfall in Lebanon is estimated at around 800 mm, varying from 600 to 900 mm
along the coastal area, to 1 400 mm on the high mountains, and decreasing to 400 mm inland, with a
minimum of 240 mm in North Bekaa. Above 2,000 m altitude, precipitation essentially consists of
snow and helps to sustain a base yield for about 2,000 springs. Rainfall occurs on eighty to ninety
days a year, mainly between October and April. About 75% of the annual stream flow occurs in the
five-month period from January to May, 16% from June to July and only 9% from August to
December.
The total annual water flow for an average year is estimated at around 2,700 MCM of which 500
MCM of groundwater and 2,200 MCM of surface water:
1
Figure 2: Current Water Balance for Lebanon (BCM/year)
Current Water Balance for Lebanon

(BCM/year)
GW: Groundwater
Total Rainfall and Snow SW: Surface Water
8.6
Water Lost
Evapo-transpiration
Water Flow
4.5 Total Renewable Water Resources
Across Boundaries
4.1 To Sea
SW GW GW
0.7 0.3 Resources Remaining in Lebanon 0.4
2.7
To Groundwater Surface Flow

0.5 2.2
Source: MEW
Renewable water resources stand currently at around 926 m3/capita/year slightly lower than the
widely recognized 1000 m3/capita/year threshold. It is expected that this figure would drop to 839
m3/capita/year by 2015 due to population growth.
Figure 3: Renewable Water Resources in MENA Countries
Renewable Water Resources Expected Renewable Water Resources

(2009) (m3/capita/year) (2015) (m3/capita/year)
Turkey 3,292 Turkey 2,990
Iraq 2,892 Iraq 2,263
Iran 2,022 Iran 1,808
Syria 1,426 Syria 1,159
Lebanon 926 Lebanon 839
Morocco 886 Morocco 767
Egypt 752 Egypt 641
Tunisia 496 Tunisia 451
Algeria 440 Algeria 391
Oman 333 Oman 245
Israel 271 Israel 243
Palestine 213 Palestine 158
Yemen 198 Yemen 141
Jordan 156 Jordan 125
Bahrain 145 Bahrain 128
Qatar 116 Qatar 95
Libya 104 Libya 84
KSA 91 KSA 76
UAE 78 UAE 68
Kuwait 0 Kuwait 0
Water Scarcity Threshold Water Scarcity Threshold

1,000 m 3/person 1,000 m 3/person
Source: Water Market Middle East
2
1.1.2 Surface water
1.1.2.1 Surface water resources
The flows in water courses are estimated at 3,400 MCM approximately for an average year. This
figure includes the flows both in the national rivers as well as the transboundary rivers.
The following table shows estimations of these flows (in MCM) in each geographic unit and for
various periods of the year.
Table 1: Average Flows in Water Courses
Average Flows Central/

North Mount North South
in Water Courses South Total
Lebanon Lebanon Bekaa Lebanon
(in MCM) Bekaa
Entire year 670 990 480 830 430 3,400
May - October (6 months) 270 305 240 240 25 1,080
July - October (4 months) 115 95 155 115 10 490
September 22 18 38 27 2 107
Source: MEW
Table 2: Main Springs per WE
Total /
BMLWE NLWE BWE SLWE
Average
Exploited Flow (MCM/yr) 107 78 100 84 369
Exploitable Flow (MCM/yr) 513 329 280 111 1,233

Sources: CAS, WEs
1.1.2.2 Existing infrastructure

• A precise assessment of the existing surface water sources in not available
• Inspected springs generally show a range for the following improvements:
- Optimized capture/abstraction structures
- Implement catchment protection to avoid pollution
- Transmission Main – Air Valve maintenance, hydraulic optimization
Marine Springs
Groundwater aquifers extend naturally to the bottom of sea. Under such unique hydrogeological
situation in Lebanon, and as most of the country is underlain by calcareous formations, there are
many springs not only on the land but along the shore line and offshore, known as submarine spring.
When the piezometric head of confined aquifer under the sea is higher than the seawater head, and
if it has an outlet, the submarine spring occurs.
Submarine springs are known by the people living along sea site, but they have been left untouched
because of the difficulty to exploit them efficiently. Recently, these springs were surveyed
scientifically (NCRS, AUB), and studied for proper usage.
3
Figure 4: Concept of Submarine Springs
Source: Hydrogeological maps of Lebanon (1/200,000)
Exploitation of marine springs would present major technical challenges, leading to low cost
effectiveness at the current stage. This resource could be considered on the long term when
economic conditions become more favorable.
1.1.2.3 Existing dams and hill lakes
While Lebanon is in a relatively favorable position as far as rainfall and water resources are
concerned, constraints for development consist in the limited availability of water during the seven
dry summer months and to the very low water storage capacity. Total storage capacity currently
amounts to around 235 MCM and represents less than 6% of the share of total renewable water
resources, against 56% in Tunisia and Morocco and 117% in Syria.
Figure 5: Dam Capacity as Percentage of Total Renewable Water Resources in MENA Region
295%
Potential to reach more

than 1 BCM of storage
(24%)
117%
Qaraoun: 220 MCM
Chabrouh: 15 MCM
56% 56%
235 MCM
23%
6%
Egypt Syria Tunisia Morocco Iran Lebanon
Source: FAO Aquastat
The Qaraoun reservoir is the largest in Lebanon, located on the Upper Litani River. Constructed in
the 1960s, it has a total capacity of around 220 MCM and effective storage of 160 MCM (with 60
MCM as the inter-annual reserve). It supplies three hydroelectric power plants generating around
190 MW. Moreover, the Qaraoun Reservoir potentially provides every year a total of 140 MCM for
irrigation purposes (110 for South Lebanon and 30 for Bekaa), and 20 MCM for domestic purposes to
the South.
4
In 2007, the Chabrouh dam was inaugurated with a static storage capacity of 8 MCM, and a dynamic
reserve of 15 MCM. It provides water for domestic and irrigation purposes to alleviate water
shortages in the Kaza of Kesrouan and parts of the Metn regions.
Qaraoun Lake Chabrouh Dam and Lake
Table 3: Existing Dams and Hill Lakes
Storage Elevation
Designation WE Purpose
(MCM) (m)
Qaraoun LRA 220 860 Water Supply, Irrigation, Hydropower
Chabrouh BMLWE 15 1,550 Water Supply
Source: MEW
1.1.2.4 Current capital investments (ongoing and committed)
Two hill lake projects are currently under implementation, Brissa and Qaisamani.
The Brissa dam and hill lake is located in the high village of Brissa in the Caza of Minieh-Danniyeh. It
is fed by local springs and snow melt, and is planned for the water supply of the villages of upper
Danniyeh during the dry season. The dam and reservoir are currently under construction and are
expected to be finalized before the end of 2011.
The tender documents of the Qaisamani dam are currently under preparation. Construction is
scheduled to start in 2011 and completed in 2013. The project in intended to secure water supply for
more than 20 villages in the upper Baabda region.
Table 4: Ongoing and Committed Dams and Hill Lakes
Storage Elevation Cost Commissioning

Designation WE
(MCM) (m) (MUSD) Date
Brissa NLWE 0.8 1,945 20 2011
Qaisamani BMLWE 1.0 1,500 25 2013
Source: MEW, CDR
1.1.3 Groundwater
1.1.3.1 Current situation

The use of groundwater for water supply and irrigation is a rather recent practice due to increasing
demand and decreasing supply. Irrigated agriculture is the largest consumer of groundwater with
5
around a half of irrigation use coming from underground wells. WEs rely largely on groundwater for
their water supply, with more than 80% of the total SLWE resources coming from wells. The total
volume of water extracted from public wells executed and managed by MEW and WEs amounts to
260 MCM/yr.
The number of small scale private wells has increased dramatically during the past few years due to
population growth, economic development, urban expansion, supply shortages and the inability of
public water entities to deliver required volumes. Additional wells are being drilled continuously,
which makes it difficult to assess their number and discharge. It is estimated that, to date, the total
number of private wells exceeds 42,000 with more than 50% being undeclared. The total number of
private wells is feared to be significantly higher, with a total yield of these private wells considered
to exceed 360 MCM/yr.
Table 5: Estimation of Licensed Private Wells
Water Use (MCM/year) Total Yield

Mohafazat Number
Water Supply Irrigation Industry (MCM/year)
Beirut 1,680 5.14 1.23 0.77 7.14
Mount Lebanon 10,718 19.56 34.23 20.54 74.33
North Lebanon 2,966 6.50 34.23 20.54 61.27
South Lebanon 2,282 1,67 14.58 2.50 17.08
Bekaa 2,678 1.47 19.55 1.47 22.49
Total 20,324 32.67 103.82 45.82 182.31
Source: MEW
Table 6: Estimation of Illegal (Undeclared) Private Wells
Water Use (MCM/year) Total Yield

Mohafazat Number
Water Supply Irrigation Industry (MCM/year)
Beirut 1,500 4.65 1.10 0.69 6.44
Mount Lebanon 4,500 8.21 14.37 8.62 31.2
North Lebanon 7,000 15.33 19.16 12.78 47.27
South Lebanon 5,000 15.51 31.94 5.48 52.93
Bekaa 4,500 2.46 32.85 2.46 37.77
Total 22,500 46.16 99.42 30.03 175.61
Source: MEW
The total number of registered wells under the responsibility of the WEs adds up to 670 wells with
SLWE having the largest share of 269 wells.
Water production is not consistently measured, the average production per well however is in the
order of 1100 m³/day adding up to 264 MCM/year.
Table 7 Registered Wells per WE, 2010
BMLWE NLWE SLWE BWE Total

Number of Wells 138 98 269 135 640
Total Exploited Volume (MCM/year) 76 42 87 55 260
Sources: CAS, WEs
The strong variation in number of pumping units, yield and pumping head coincides with the
reportedly high energy consumption in SLWE.
6
Table 8: Average Yield & Well Pump Head per WE
BMLWE NLWE SLWE BWE Average

Average Yield (m³/day) 1.500 1.200 900 1.100 1.100
Average Well Pump Head (m) (*) 235 142 342 286 259
Sources: WEs, (*)= pump depth plus lift to storage tank
1.1.3.2 Legislation and management
• Al Majalla: defining the minimum distance between the proposed well and the nearest
spring or public well
• Decision 144/S dated 10/6/1925: defining the public property rights
• Decision 320 dated 26/5/1926 for the conservation and usage of water within public
properties, whereby for wells deeper than 150 m and/or having a daily discharge of more
than 100m3/d require a decree to allow drilling and exploitation
• Decree 14438 dated 2/5/1970 defining the process to acquire a well drilling permit in private
property as well as the yearly rates to be applied
• Recently, a new methodology has been developed by MEW defining the procedures to be
followed to acquire a permit for well drilling, pumping, renewal, etc. This new methodology
features more stringent conditions for well drilling and exploitation, whereby a license to
drill is given, mainly if the proposed well:
- Does not fall within a restricted excavation area
- Does not fall within a distance of less than 350 m from public wells or springs
- Would not have any effect on public water resources (wells and springs) located
within a radius between 350 and 2,000 m.
- The public water utility is not capable of providing the amount of water required
1.2 Transmission and Distribution
1.2.1 Water Supply
1.2.1.1 Current demand

• A consistent documentation of network assets is only available for BMLWE. The other WEs
only dispose of records of transmission mains. The most valuable category of assets, namely
the distribution networks, is not documented in three WEs.
• The total length of documented network in BMLWE is 5880 km of which 1550 account for
large diameter transmission mains. Based on a smaller sample of pipes the average age of
pipes is in the order of 30 years knowing that considerable lengths are not documented in
terms of age as shown in below table:
7
Table 9: Analysis of Network Age BMLWE
Age (years) Transmission Distribution

10-20 15% 15%
20-30 6% 11%
30-40 15% 8%
40-50 16% 5%
>50 5% 2%
<10 26% 23%
unknown 17% 36%
Source: BMLWE
• Based on the data records of BMLWE assumptions were made for the length, composition
and age of distribution networks of the other WEs.
• The distribution network length of BMLWE results in an average length of 8 m per
subscriber. Keeping in mind the significantly higher urban density results in an increased
specific distribution network length for the WEs as follows:
Table 10: Urbanization per WE & Specific Network Length per Subscriber, 2010
BMLWE NLWE SLWE BWE

Urbanization (%) 86% 50% 45% 36%
Specific Network Length (m) 8,5 12(*) 12(*) 15(*)
Sources: CAS, BMLWE, (*) = assumptions
Table 11: Pipe Length per WE, 2010

Transmission Network (km) 1.560 606(*) 1.603 565 4334
Distribution Network (km) 4.050 1.287(*) 1.606(*) 1.004(*) 7947
Sources: WEs, (*)) assumptions based on BMLWE data
• Storage tank capacities among the four WEs are relatively similar in terms of storage times.
The retention times (autonomy) are in any case sufficient given that a storage time ranging
between 6 and 24 hours is considered sufficient according to specific local conditions. Below
table shows that storage times are exceeding the recommended value (24 hours) in all
establishments with the exception of BML, where the storage time is less than 12 hours.
Table 12: Storage Tanks per WE

Number of Storage Tanks 560 445 467 224 1.696
Total Storage Volume (m³) 236.000 145.000 141.000 99.975 621.975
Average Storage Time (hours) 8,40 9,80 8,71 10.41 9,33
Sources: WEs, 2009 - 2010
• Tank capacities are due to poor storage tank management where filling largely depends on
the availability of water regardless of effective network demand.
8
1.2.1.2 Network Coverage
Water supply network coverage varies among WEs between 62% and 87%, but the resulting
coverage at national level or around 79% is slightly higher than the MENA average but much lower
than the 100% best practice threshold. However, around 50% of the transmission and distribution
pipelines require special attention given their age (> 30 years).
Figure 6: Potable Water Network Coverage in MENA Region
Bahrain 100%
Jordan 98%
Iran 96%
Israel 95%
Turkey 93%
Morocco 90%
Palestine 90%
KSA 85%
Algeria 80%
Egypt 80%
Kuwait 80%
UAE 80%
Lebanon 79%
Qatar 70%
Oman 65%
Tunisia 65%
Syria 60%
Libya 40%
Yemen 30%
Iraq 20% MENA average
75%
1.2.1.3 Number of hours of supply

Depending on the seasons, water is supplied daily on an average ranging from 3 to 22 hours of daily.
The BML WE, which has the highest connection rate, only provides 3 hours of daily water supply in
the summer season. The North WE has the highest continuity of supply (22 hours). Tripoli, which
accounts for about half of the total population in the North region, is the only urban area which
benefit from 24 hours of daily water supply. The high continuity of supply in the Tripoli area is a
result of the efficiency improvements delivered by the private operator contracted by the NLWE
under a 5-year management contract.
9
Figure 7: Continuity of Supply
22 22
20 High season
Low season
15 13 13
Hours/Day 10 10
10 8 8 7.6
5 3
0
BML North South Bekaa Lebanon
Source: World Bank
1.2.1.4 Non-Revenue Water
The below figures show that the average non-revenue water throughout Lebanon is around 48%,
way above the average worldwide and in the MENA region (respectively 35% and 37%). This includes
the following two components:
• Physical losses due to leaks and bursts in the pipelines generated by poor maintenance and
old age. Solutions to this problem include leak detection programs followed by maintenance
and/or capital renewal programs.
• Administrative losses due mainly to illegal connections. Solutions to this problem include
technical inspections at the house connection level
Figure 8: Non-Revenue Water Rates in WEs
National Average
48%
Source: MEW, WEs
10
Figure 9: Non-Revenue Water Rates in MENA Region
Best practices World average MENA average

10% 35% 37%
1.2.1.5 Technical audit of existing infrastructure
• A consistent documentation of all assets is available in BMLWE and partially available in the
other WEs.
• The performance of the various water supply components is hardly documented and no
procedures are in place to close this gap (effective documentation of supply hours,
reasonable estimation of physical and commercial losses, pipe burst and system outages,
etc.)
• The most reliable indicator is the age of assets which was assumed as follows:
Table 13: Assumed Average Age of Assets per WE, 2010 (years)
BMLWE NLWE SLWE BWE

Surface Water Sources Production & Treatment (Dams excluded) 23 23 23 18
Surface Water Sources Production & Treatment (Dams only) 2 N/A N/A 58
Groundwater Sources Production & Treatment 14 18 18 11
Transmission & Storage 31 33 33 18
Distribution Network 31 33 33 18
Sources: WEs
11
• Current investments are most importantly undertaken by BMLWE. The remaining WEs are
largely cutting on investment replacement resulting in over aging and deteriorating assets.
(see item Rehabilitation & Replacement (Mio.USD) in below table.
• The Maintenance Rate (%) associates the documented maintenance expenses to the
replacement cost of the assets and again clearly shows a strong variation among the WEs.
Table 14: Documented CAPEX Replacement and Maintenance Expenses per WE, 2009
BMLWE NLWE SLWE BWE

Rehabilitation & Replacement (Mio. USD) 7,0 0,2 0,9 0,04
Maintenance rate (%) (*) 0,8% 0,7% 0,6% 0,02%
Sources: WEs, (*)= Maintenance cost over replacement cost
1.2.1.6 Private Providers
According to studies carried out by the World Bank in 2009, private water supply accounts for 75%
of total household water expenditure. The rationing of public water supply for domestic
consumption has led to significant growth of private sources of water supply. Private water supply
accounts for 65% of total water expenditure of connected households. If un-connected households
are included, household spending for private supply solutions reaches 75% of total water
expenditure. The most prominent sources of private water supply, in terms of expenditure share, are
private bottled water (gallons) (35%), followed by delivery trucks (21%) and small water bottles
(16%). Bottled water (gallon) accounts for the highest share of water expenditure for both
connected and un-connected households (33 and 40% respectively).
Figure 10: Total Revenues by Source of Supply (MUSD and Share of Total), Total Customer Base
Artesian Private
Wells, 10, Network,
2% 3.5, 1%
Public
Bottles, 65, network,
16% 104, 25%
Gallons, Delivery
142, 35% trucks, 87,
21%
Total: $411m
Source: World Bank, PER, 2009
1.2.1.7 Existing capital investments (ongoing and committed)

• Different investment tracks are underway:
- Investments which are planned by the WEs and which address needs identified for
the period of the Business Plan (5 years)
12
- Investments which are identified by CDR and which are generally co-financed by
various donors. These investments are mostly higher in volume.
- Investments undertaken by related stakeholders, such as municipalities or
committees. These investments are generally small and demand driven as they
address immediate improvements.
• A synchronization of these activities is not yet taking place.
• The most prominent investments are those channeled by CDR:
Table 15: Project Pipeline: summary of envisaged investments per WE

Total Number of Projects: 15 24 24 18 81
Dams & Lakes (Mio. USD) 37,2 20,3 - 46,0 103,5
Surface Treatment Plants (Mio. USD) 5,2 1,1 25,9 - 32,2
Wells (Mio. USD) 4,1 - 6,3 4,2 14,6
Networks (Mio. USD) 282,6 142,9 62,0 87,8 575,4
Sources: CDR, WEs, 2010
1.2.2 Irrigation
1.2.2.1 Existing infrastructure and water requirements
• 67 irrigation schemes cover mainly medium (between 100 ha and 1,000 ha) and large (over
1,000 ha) scale. The total equipped area of those schemes is 66,000 ha, in addition to small
scale and scattered irrigation areas of 24,000 ha, making the overall total of 90,000 ha.
• The Irrigation Rehabilitation and Modernization Project financed through a World Bank loan
(1995-2003) was the last major investment (~US$ 70M) in the irrigation sector. Under the
project about one third of irrigation schemes were rehabilitated/improved. The
sustainability of the rehabilitated schemes in terms of O&M is still not yet ensured.
Table 16: Current Irrigated Areas in Lebanon (ha)
Schemed Irrigation Small Scale Irrigation Total

Region
(>100 ha) (<100 ha) (ha)
North Lebanon 21,500 2,500 24,000
Beirut & Mount Lebanon 6,500 2,500 9,000
South Lebanon 7,000 5,000 12,000
Bekaa 31,000 14,000 45,000
Total 66,000 24,000 90,000
Source: FAO, World Bank
13
Table 17: Efficiencies and Consumption by Type of Irrigation
By Type of Irrigation (%)

System
Furrow Sprinkler Drip
Surface Water 100 0 0
Groundwater 43 45 12
Surf. & Groundwater 70.4 23.4 6.2
System Efficiency 0.6 0.7 0.8
Average Water Consumption
9,500 8,000 7,000
[incl. system losses] (m3/ha/yr)
Table 18: Total Irrigation Water Requirements in 2010 (MCM/yr)
Irrigation Water Requirements

Region
(MCM/yr)
North Lebanon 216
Beirut & Mount Lebanon 81
South Lebanon 108
Bekaa 405
Total 810
1.2.2.2 Current management arrangements and tariffs

Currently, there are several organizations responsible for O&M of irrigation schemes (MEW, LRA,
WEs, Local Committees, and Municipalities). Local Committees and farmers’ groups are most
involved with the O&M of the small and medium irrigation schemes. Of the total number of
schemes, about half are operated and maintained by farmers groups. This is a clear indication that
introducing formal WUAs, as an efficient and sustainable way for organizing O&M, is possible and
could be successful.
Moreover, it is estimated that over one-half of irrigation schemes in Lebanon do not have adequate
O&M, which could impact the future sustainability of these schemes. Most of the small and medium
irrigation schemes do not have a formal organization or unit in charge of O&M.
1.2.2.3 Irrigation tariffs
Each WE has its own procedures and arrangements for setting and recovering water charges. Water
charges for supply of irrigation water are determined by the Boards of the WEs. Responsibility for
the enforcement of the law falls with the WEs or Local Committees. These organizations are only
responsible for the assessment and collection of charges within collective schemes.
It is useful to distinguish among various types of charges, which make up the pricing regime. Two
tariffs are generally used in Lebanon:
• Area Charges. These are lump sums periodic charges based on irrigated areas (a fixed charge
per ha, which depends on the crop grown and whether pumping is used or not. In this case
water tariffs are indirectly related to the volume of water consumed by adjusting charges on
the basis of crops grown. Most schemes operate under the “area charge” system.
14
• Volumetric Charges. This type is used in case of pressurized networks, where the hydrants
are equipped with water meters and usually parcels have direct access to an outlet. This
tariff is appropriate for schemes using sprinkling, drip or others modern methods of
irrigation (example, South Bekaa Irrigation Project Phase 1 -- 2000 ha). A variation of this
system is based on an hourly charge for water delivery (i.e. number of hours multiplied by
the discharge).
Effectively, and due to the diversity of irrigation schemes and O&M bodies, two main categories
were observed:
• Area Charges: lump sums periodic charges based on area irrigated (from 140 to 650 $/ha/yr)
• Volumetric Charges: used in case of pressurized networks, where hydrants are equipped
with water meters (from 0.10 to 0.15 $/m3)
In a number of small to medium schemes, no official tariffs are applied, but farmers sometimes pay
in emergency situations.
1.3 Wastewater (WORK-IN-PROGRESS)
1.3.1 Collection
Figure 11: Wastewater Network Coverage
Israel 95%
Algeria 85%
Turkey 75%
Bahrain 70%
Morocco 70%
Kuwait 65%
Jordan 60%
UAE 60%
Lebanon 58%
Qatar 60%
Tunisia 55%
Egypt 50%
KSA 40%
Syria 40%
Palestine 35%
Libya 20%
Iran 16%
Oman 15%
Yemen 5%
Iraq 2%
MENA average
48%
15
1.3.2 Treatment and disposal
Figure 12: Treated Water Share of Total Water Consumed (%)
MENA Average
32%
1.4 Assessment of O&M policies and practices
1.4.1 Current O&M policies
There are no documented operation and maintenance policies for water, wastewater and irrigation
facilities, within the WEs. Utilities rely on their experience and transfer of knowledge in day-to-day
activities with no reference to recognized documents or standards.
1.4.2 Current operation and maintenance practices
• Lack of preventive maintenance on a regular basis with more focus on corrective

maintenance
• Lack of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) guiding day-to-day activities of WEs’ staff
and/or private operators’ staff in case of contracting out
• Limited qualifications of personnel to properly perform operation and maintenance of
facilities
• Limited expenses on capital repair and replacement and capital renewal, except for BMLWE
where a master plan has been developed for each zone within its service area
In general, routine/preventive maintenance expenses are estimated to vary between 0.1% of total
capital cost for civil works and 1.5% of total capital cost for electromechanical components.
16
By looking at historical O&M expenses in WEs and total asset value of BMLWE and BWE where an
estimate of assets’ value is available, the ratios of all maintenance cost (i.e. routine/preventive and
corrective) to asset value are respectively 2.18% in BMLWE and 0.03% in BWE.
1.5 Overview of private sector participation
1.5.1 Description of Past and Current PSP Experiences
Although water supply services remain public, utilities in Lebanon rely on the private sector in
different areas of the business as follow:
Management contract of the former Tripoli Water Authority

• International tender to hire an operator for the management of the former Tripoli Water
Authority
• Financing by AFD through the CDR for a total amount of 4.6 million Euros
• Contract award to Ondeo-Liban for four years (2003 – 2007)
• Indicators to measure performance:
- Technical: network efficiency, continuity of service, quality of water
- Financial: financial sustainability
- Commercial/customer service: billing efficiency, collection efficiency
• The contract included also supervision of a capital program of 11 million Euros, procurement
of tools and meters, implementation of a leak detection program and a customer survey
• Improved performance:
- 57% increase in water production
- Continuity of supply, 24/7
- Installation of production meters
- Installation of 2,260 new connections
- Capacity building of staff
- Leak detection program covering 150 km and reducing water losses by 15,000
m3/day
• Deficiencies:
- Network efficiency increased from 25% to 55% but did not reach contract’s objective
of 75%
- Billing increased from 34% of registered customers to 55% but did not reach
contract’s objective of 75%
- Total payables did not reach contract’s objective of 10%
• Major obstacles:
- Institutional set-up
- Resistance to change
17
Service contract of Baalbek – Nabi Chit area
• Scope of work included connection pipes (223 km), installation of water meters (around
21,000), connection boxes (13,250), installation of house connections (16,000), supply and
distribution pipelines (83 lm) and sewerage pipelines (160 km)
• Other services included leak detection program, procurement of tools, development of
procedures for O&M, installation of a maintenance management system, water quality
monitoring, operation and maintenance of WWTP, etc.
• Loan agreement with the World Bank through CDR for a total amount of 32 Million USD
Operation and maintenance contracts of selected water pumping stations

• MEW was funding O&M of eight pumping stations in different WEs. Recently, the
management of these contracts has been moved to WEs
• Table 19 shows the number of pumping stations in each WE with the total contract value
and number of employees provided by contractors
Table 19: O&M of selected pumping stations funded by MEW (2009)

No. of water pumping stations 0 1 6 1 8
Total value (Mo. LBP) 0 797 3,848 281 4,926
Total No. of employees 0 19 116 12 146
Source: MEW
• The scope of work is reduced to O&M of pumping stations (mostly in combination with wells
and treatment)
• Maintenance includes minor preventive and corrective maintenance wherever required
based on assumptions/projections of maintenance cost during the period of performance
• Total contract value includes salary of provided staff, consumables and an estimate of
maintenance works
• Period of performance is twelve months
• These contracts are considered as a subsidy to WEs but do not appear as such in their
financial statements
Operation of Wastewater Treatment Facilities within BMLWE

• Two contracts for the operation of Al Ghadir screening facility and seven small WWTPs in the
Upper Chouf area
• Scope of work includes only operation and minor routine maintenance works
• Corrective maintenance is directly covered by the Establishment upon request
• Period of performance is for twelve months
Operation of the newly installed financial/accounting system of SLWE

• Mutual agreement between SLWE and ITEC (software vendor) for the provision of 17
employees to operate the system provided through USAID funding
18
• Agreement for twelve months, renewable twice with the consent of both parties (since
2007)
• Total contract value around 450 BLBP per year
• SLWE reviewed the scope of work in 2010 (end of the 3-year period) and awarded the
contract for the same amount with a new scope of work in preparation of hand-over to in-
house staff
Other contracts with the private sector

Some WEs rely also on private operators to provide maintenance services of pumping stations or
networks upon requests.
Private sector participation in the management of the water sector in Lebanon remains limited.
Despite the positive impact, previous experiences showed that Water Establishments are still not
prepared for sustainable partnerships with the private sector. A proper review of the institutional
and legal set-ups of PSP is necessary to identify gaps and introduce improvements
1.6 Water Quality
1.6.1 State of water quality in Lebanon
• The level of bacteriological contamination differs from a public water source to another,
ranging from 0% in certain rural areas to reach 90% around more populated urban areas.
• The chemical contamination varies widely among WEs:
- Sea water intrusion being a common problem for all the coastal wells raising the
issue of high salinity and conductivity problems
- Elevated nitrate levels in Bekaa valley
- Olive oil residue in the areas of North and South Lebanon
- Accidental pollution due to industrial waste
1.6.2 Pollution sources
• Inadequate domestic sewage disposal, predominantly discharged in the environment

without treatment; 70% of all natural sources with bacterial contamination
• Overexploitation of water resources due to excessive drilling and pumping (mainly
concentrated in coastal area and Beqa’a)
• Excessive use of fertilizers and unregulated application of pesticides
• Direct discharge of industrial effluent into the environment (concentrated along the coast, in
Mount Lebanon, in the Beqa’a valley and Litani water shed)
• Open dumping.
19
2 Water Sector Management
2.1 Institutional
2.1.1 Overview of sector performance

Prior to 2000, service provision was fragmented into 22 Water Authorities and more than 209 local
committees. The reform law 221 of 2000 restructured the water sector in line with three best
practice principles:
• separation between policy-making and service provision

• consolidation of service provision in autonomous regional water establishments (WEs) and
policy making in MEW
• financial and administrative autonomy of the new regional water establishments
The intention was that:
• MEW would act as sector policy maker, regulator and water resource manager
• WEs would take responsibility for investment and service provision for water supply,
sanitation and irrigation
• Policy formulation is the responsibility of MEW
• Investment planning and execution are: (i) for foreign-aided projects under the responsibility
of the CDR; and (ii) for nationally financed projects under the responsibility of MEW and
WEs, with some projects channeled through the High Council for the Displaced and the
Council for the South
Figure 13: Current Institutional Setting and Commercial Relations
Ministry of Ministry of
Donors Energy and Water Finance
Donors
(Grants/ Council for
Technical Development (Loans/ Grants)
Assistance) NLWE BMLWE SLWE BWE LRA and
Reconstruction
HCD
CoS
Consumers
NGOs
Others
Private Providers NLWE: North Lebanon Water Establishment

BMLWE: Beirut & Mount Lebanon Water Establishment
Product Flow Water Delivery Trucks SLWE: South Lebanon Water Establishment
Bottled Water/Gallons BWE: Bekaa Water Establishment
Cash Flow Private Wells LRA: Litani River Authority
HCD: High Commission for the Displaced
Local Committees/Municipalities CoS: Council for the South
20
The reform delegated responsibility for the delivery of potable water, wastewater and irrigation to
four consolidated WEs and the pre-existing Litani River Authority
Under the law, the WEs are responsible for planning, design and implementation of infrastructure
projects, service provision, tariff setting, and water quality control.
2.1.2 Assessment of the implementation of reform law 221/2000
The implementation of the reform law has been initiated but not fully concluded, and as a result,
there is a difference between the intended sector structure and the actual one.
The transfer of functions to the four WEs has been subject to several delays: the management
boards of the WEs were appointed in late 2002, while all related by-laws (foreseen by Law 221) were
only finalized in late 2005.
The WEs are - to this date (2010) - not yet empowered to act with full administrative and financial
autonomy and therefore do not have the technical and financial capacity to deliver the services set
by Law 221.
Wastewater collection, legally under the jurisdiction of the WEs, is carried out by municipalities and
unregulated small-scale private operators. The O&M of large wastewater treatment plants is under
the responsibility of MEW, given that WEs do not have yet the capacity to take over.
O&M of irrigation works continue to be conducted by local committees and Irrigation Boards as they
were before the reforms.
The legal text to organize the work of MEW, this enabling it to focus on its core activities according
to reform law 221, e.g., policy making and regulatory roles, has not been developed yet. Some of
MEW’s efforts are still dedicated to capital projects and O&M.
In general all WEs suffer from a shortage of funds (except BMLWE) and technical staff. In addition,
and although law 221/2000 contemplates the possibility that WEs recruit additional expertise, the
financial laws approved successively (2004) have brought obstacles to this provision.
The amendments of Law 221/2000, represented by Laws 247/2000 and 377/2001 do not seem to
pose particular problems apart from a certain confusion that could be produced by Art.6 of Law 377
in relation to the definition of administrative responsibilities between WEs and municipalities and
particularly about ownership and management of equipment. This article, in fact, establishes that
the dispositions of Law 377 do not reduce the prerogatives of municipalities or unions of
municipalities in their respective domain, as stipulated in the Laws of Municipalities and of municipal
taxes. This refers specifically to Law no. 118 of 30 June 1977 charging municipalities with sanitation
infrastructure and its management.
It is however considered by the competent institutional stakeholders that potential overlapping of

responsibilities can be avoided, especially taking into consideration that both municipalities and WEs
pertain to the public domain and that equipment and existing sanitation infrastructure are publicly
owned goods.
21
These discrepancies between legal and de facto responsibilities have created institutional
uncertainty, and weakened the accountability line between policy-makers and service providers.
2.1.3 Management models of MEW and WEs

Figure 14: Current Organization Structure of MEW
Ministry of
Energy and Water 113 597
General Directorate of Hydraulic General Directorate of

and Electric Resources 77 505 Exploitation 35 92
Electrical Concession
Admin Planning Studies Water Equipment Environment Admin Tutelage Quarries
11 92 6 32 19 138 28 180 4 29 7 31 14 43 1 22 Oversight
7 18 1 6
Employees Planning Hydrometry Sanitation Legal Water Admin &

2 4 Water2 15 1 20 Irrigation 3 2 1 2
4 22 Tutelage
7 9 Financial
3 9
Accounting Planning Expropriation Employees &
Surface Runoff
2 14 1 5
Electricity and Water 1 7 Accounting
4 7 Coordinators
Rights8 37 0 5 Technical
Legal Programs Studies
2 4 0 5 2 34 IT Control3 6
Expropriatio 0 11 Electricity
3 8
Equipment Statistics n Tutelage
4 5
1 12 0 5 Water Rights Projects
4 27 21 120
Archiving
1 4 Projects Mt
Groundwater
and Geology Lebanon2 28
3 49
Projects
Groundwater North6 28
1 34
Projects
Geology South8 28
1 4
Projects
Geotechnical
0 4
Ptrograpphy Bekaa3 28
0 4
Research &
Hydraulic
Structure
6 29 Note: Does not show the General Directorate of Oil)
Water
1 10 Directorate Department Unit Section
Research
Hydraulic
2 13 Number of employees according to decree
Structures yy xx Vacant Position
Hill Lakes Number of current employees (Feb. 10)
2 4
Figure 15: Current Organization Structures WEs
Organization Structure of North Lebanon Water Establishment Organization Structure of Beirut & Mount Lebanon Water Establishment
Gener al Dir ector ate
254 1,271
Gener al Dir ector ate621 1,120
Contr ol 2 11
3 Secretariat &B oD Works 3 Secr etar iat Contr ol
55 3 14 0 9
Admin &
Administrative B oD Affairs Technical & QC
Technical & QC 1 4 Admin & Financial0 4 Expenditure Control 1 3 2 7 0 3 0 3
3 Finance 0 3
Secretary Expenditure Control

0 1 1 3
Administrative Affairs Financial Affairs Technical Exploitation
11 81 10 55 45 390 180723 Admin. Financial Technical Distribution
Affairs Affairs
2455 2959 237409 326567
Collective Fin. Acc & General Projects and Statistics Hydraulic Tripoli & North South Collect Ware
Admin HR Procur. Stats. Genera & Mt Leb. Mt Leb. Mt Leb. Mt Leb.
7 30 Services3 48 Warehouse5 34 Accounting
2 18 Programs 6 20 and IT 2 15 Stations
35 351 Surrounding
29 124 Region
76 301 Region
73 294 Financ Project Beirut Labs Beirut hous e
& and IT e l Cashie s North South North South
8 20 Legal
1 10 10 17 11 24 Accou
1015 1 8 s4 6
Registry &
B udget &
A nalytic
Programs&
Treatment Employee B udget & Admin
rs7 15 S tudies
10 27
and
70112
S outh
74151
Jbeil
82107
Aley
57115
South
175288 92154
Procurement E xp Exploit. S tatistics Admin Danniyeh Zghorta S tstisti nt S tation S tation
PR 1 12 12 1 7 3 8
Liquidation 8 Accounting
0 3
3 Rules 0 4
4 0 4
4 Plants16 42
42 5 53
53 26 84
84 10 65
65 A ffairs Legal Liquidatio Account. Collection Design B eirut Beirut Jbeil A ley
cs s s
Registry & E mployee
8 13 0 3 1 3 5 10 3 3 5 7 1 14 26 46 25 39 45 58 32 59 47 67 50 83
Bldg & Veh. General B udget Financial P roject Ops Ops Ops Customer Customer
Distr. Customer
1 7 Budget1 3 Studies IT Purification Admin2 7 A dmin
5 26 Admin
2 22 Purchas. Cashier
Accounting
1 3 4 8 1 8 Social IT E2xp. 4 Account. Distr. 10 12 Distr.
A rchives Maintenance
2 38 Expenses Plants 1 182
182 3s 4 Suoervi 18 29 18 25 29 35 10 18 15 21
s sion 25 35
Building 1 4 9 11 4 5 2 5 8 10 Maint. Maint. Maint. Sup.
PR 0 2 1 3 Subscribers
3 21 O& M
19 56 O&M7 41 Works
2 27 Material E xecution &Medical
3 8 Liquid.
3 5 Material 7 13 4 10 15 19 Sup.
11 19 7 13 S22
up.34
Liquidation Pumping
Maintenance Accounting0 3 Supervision
1 5 S afety & Cashiers Account. Kesserwn Baabda Works Works
S alary & 5 S tations
15 87
87 Collections
0 23 NorthB eirut Kesser
Minieh B charreh Training Checking 3 4 S tations Station 9 15 10 21
HR V ehicles
0 9 Rev. 13 59 3 39 wan
5 13
13 0 13
13 59 39 42 63 16 34 36 46 45 76
Validation Collection 0 4 4 7
Labs and North B eirut Customer
Distr.
Ops Ops Ops Baabda
Checking 0 6 Workshops
2 37 O&M A dmin
0 19 Admin
1 22 8 16
E mployees
1 3 Cashiers 37 24 68
68 19 Salarie 29 41 12 16 23 29 25 52 41 67
Checking0 4 s Maint. Maint. Maint. 28 39
Sup.
S ocial & Med. 4 Customer Works Customer
Labs1 31 11 38
O& M 38 O&M1 15 Maint. Maint.
2 4 Connections
2 17
17 13 18 4 14 10 13 Distr.
8 16 6 14 Distr.
10 21
Work
A ffairs
Sec. & Upper Metn Upper Meth
Warehouses Workshops S ts
0 4 1 66 0 4 11 25
Networks 25 Halba Koura Sup.
8 16 S16
up.24
16 91 28 85 5 27 43 74
91 85 Works Customer Works
Training Distr.
Central Ops 5 13 11 15
Oversight
11 2424 10 16
Legal Affairs Control ??
A dmin
0 22 Admin
6 24 2 12
0 22 Maint. 27 39
Sup.
Works
Maint.
O& M
15 67 O&M
21 59 1 11 2 12
Coastal

Coastal Metn
Metn
39 66
Qobayat Batroun 28 48
20 64
64 31 102
102 Customer
Distr.
Ops 11 20
21 28
A dmin
2 22 Admin
10 24 Maint. 17 24
Sup.
Works
7 16 8 15
O& M
18 40 O&M
20 76
Organization Structure of South Lebanon Water Establishment Organization Structure of Bekaa Water Establishment
General Directorate
244787
Expenditure Control 1 3 Internal Control 1 10
General Directorate 212872 Admin & Financial

0 3 Tec h. and QC
0 4
Legal Adv is ors Sec retariat and BoD Affairs Registrar HR and Plants and Distribution and
1 9 Finance
() 6 19 Subscribers 8 34 11 ?? Projects 43 ?? Maintenance 171 557
Expenditure Control 0 Quality Control Administrative Zahleh

2 1 6 Secretariat ‫الموارد البشرية‬
HR ‫دائرة‬ Ac counting 5 ?? Plants Agglomeration
1 6 4 14 31 ?? 47 149
Training and Budget & Expenses Zahleh
0 5 3 ?? 8 ?? Zahleh 17 49
Central Accounting and Production, Transfer IT and Statis tics Soc., Med. Affairs Revenues Baalbek
Customers Affairs Distribution Studies and Projects 3 9 Employees Affairs Liquidation Agglomeration Rayak 14 49
Administration
12 41 Financial Affairs
5 26 5 28 and Ww 126 56 308 5 21
426 2 6 0 ?? 9 ??
Statistic s 1 ?? and Work Sec urity Validation Agglomeration Chtaura13 49
Budgeting and Customers service Water Production Saida Planning and Legal Affairs and Salaries and Wages
1 ?? South Bek aa
8 ??
Admin 9 55 IT Proc urement1 10 Baalbek
4 9 Financial Affairs
1 and Promotion
2 15 / North Litani
83 197 Studies 2 2 ??
4 8 Laws uits & Legal North Bek aa
5 ?? Agglomeration
61 149
Jezzine 4 Public Ac counting
30 0 3 0 ??
Meters Reading Water Production/ Ex ec ution Baalbek 9 49
HR Accounting Consultations Laboratories
and Billing1 South Litani
38 205 Nabatieh12 47 Supervision1 Proc urement 1 4 Public Ac counting
0 ?? 10 ?? Deir El Ahmar
19 49
1 8 0 4 10 7 Analytic al
0 ?? Main Lab0 ?? Chmestar
24 49
Zahrani 4 31 Subs cribers Materials
Collec tion and Was tewater / 2 6 Accounting
Procurement Cashiers 1 North Litani0 Labs
2 5 7 5 Marjeyoun - Zahleh and South 0 ?? Secondary 6 ?? ?? South Bek aa
Has bay a 9 31 1 ?? Accounting 40 149
Baalbek and North
Bekaa Financial Accounting Programs and Rachay14
a 49
Was tewater / Tyr 5 ?? Studies 2 ??
IT Warehouses South Litani0 7 38 1 ??
4 11 2 6 5 Bekaa Financ ial Jeb J ennin
12 49
1 ?? Execution
Main Warehouse Wadi J ilo 6 38 Acc ounting Mac hghara
12 49
Supervision 0 ??
Legal Affairs Laboratories Collec tion2 ??
Sec .
1 3 4 8 Bent Jbeil 5 32 North Bek aa
Cas hiers1 ?? 20 100
Warehouses
Branc h‫دائرة‬
‫المختبــرات‬ Offic es Al-Labwa
12 49
‫المختبــرات‬
(where‫دائرة‬
needed) Al Hermel7 49
Warehouses
2 10
Directorate Department Unit S ection
Main Warehouse
0 ??
yy xx Number of employees according to decree Sec ondary
Vacant Position
1 ??
Number of current employees (Feb. 10)
Warehouses
22
The key comment from the analysis of these organization structures shows:
No irrigation or wastewater responsibilities yet

Most suitable organization for technical functions to be studied
Limited focus on Strategic Planning and Business Planning
No stress on water demand management
No focus on performance management
Limited focus on IT, placed at a low level in the org.
Fixed Asset Management not included in the organization
Procurement, Purchasing and Warehouses would be better grouped under Supply Chain
Management
Customer Service is decentralized and fragmented across regional units
Control and Audit functions are grouped under one function
a. Review of staffing levels
Table 20: Staffing level of MoEW
DGE DGHER Total

Total No. of employees by law 92 505 597
Current number of permanent employees 35 77 112
% of filled positions 38% 15% 19%
Current number of contractual employees 14 33 47
Current number of temporary employees 13 18 31
Source: MEW
Table 21: Staffing level of WEs

Total No. of employees by law 1,120 1,271 872 787 4,050
Current No. of permanent employees 621 254 218 241 1,334
No. of staff / 1,000 connections 1.64 2.73 1.62 3.65 1.93
Contractor provided employees 589 217 469 12 1,287
Source: WEs
Tables 20 and 21 above show that MEW and WEs are understaffed when comparing the number of
existing permanent employees with the number of employees included in the by-laws. In general,
WEs rely on contractor-provided staff, mainly workers performing O&M, to partially fill the gaps (see
also section 2.1.5 below). Almost 50% of total staff working in WEs are provided by contractors.
According to international norms, staff efficiency ratio (number of staff per 1,000 connections)
usually covers water and wastewater services. However, none of the WEs took over any wastewater
facilities yet (except BMLWE where involvement is limited to supervising two contractors
responsible for operating WWTPs).
Table 21 above shows that the average number of staff per 1,000 connections is below the average
of other countries in the MENA region. WEs are highly understaffed in key managerial positions
23
(mainly head of Departments and Units) that are needed to assign and monitor the work of a
relatively high number of lower level labor for operation and maintenance.
24
Figure 16: Water and Wastewater Staffing Efficiency
(Number of Staff per 1000 Water and Wastewater Connections)
19.9 19.7
11.6 MENA Countries
9.9
7.6
7.0 7.0
6.4
5.7 5.6
5.3 4.9
4.6 4.4 4.3
3.5 Best Practice
Average = 2.5-3
1.9 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.7
1.4 1.4 1.4 1.0
Honolulu
Hunter Water Aus.

Ho Chi Min City
Kuala Lampur
Bangladesh
Riyadh
Tunisia
Manilla
Western Australia
Shanghai
Belgium
Casablanca
San Francisco
Argentina
Scotland
Delhi
Seoul
Nigeria
Sri Lanka
Bursa
Japan
Karachi
UK
Dakar
Jakarta
2.1.4 Review of manpower capacities and capabilities
• Lack of experience and knowledge in wastewater and irrigation;

• Human resource management limited to personnel and file administration;
• Training activities are initiated by donors and Technical Assistance programs with limited
input from WEs. This is due to lack of capacity in Training function; [ GTZ proposes a Human
resource management training program for concerned staff to create awareness and to
enable staff to develop improvement plans] , which does not seem to be considered a
priority by management;
• High vacancies rates do not necessarily mean that the positions need to be filled.
Organization structures and required staffing levels (bylaws) are not correct in the majority
of cases and therefore need to be adjusted;
• Some WEs do not have all their internal policies approved and therefore accountability and
rewards are not practiced;
• Lack of career planning in light of a great number of staff approaching retirement
(replacements are not prepared/developed/trained to step in place of retirees);
• Testing and recruitment procedures for new recruits do not guarantee the right person at
the right place;
• Tight regulations do not allow for flexibility in HR management and therefore in
strengthening the capacities and capabilities.
25
2.1.5 Use of the private sector to address capacity shortages
• Lebanese water sector suffers from a severe shortage of qualified personnel to perform day-
to-day activities
• Government’s policy of limiting hiring for the past years is still applied
• Currently, many of permanent employees are acting, by interim, in more than one position
within the organization
• Newly formed WEs have been relying on contractors’ provided personnel to overcome this
shortage since the approval of their by-laws in 2005 and partially fill the gap
• WEs conduct a tendering process to hire the services of local contractors who can provide
the necessary employees and/or workers to perform operation and maintenance activities
upon request
• Although administrative and tendering procedures are similar in all WEs, practices of hiring
contractor provided employees are different based on the needs and specificities of each
WE.
Table 23 below includes the number of contractor provided staff in each establishment, as well as
the total contract value for year 2009.
Table 22: Current Number of Employees, Percentage of Filled Positions and Total Cost

No. of contractor-provided staff 589 198 353 0 1,140
Total contract value (Mo. LBP) 8,250 1,850 3,673 0 13,773
Source: WEs, Dec. 2009
• Around 1,140 employees are provided through contractors

• Total cost of these contracts in three WEs are 13.8 BLBP/yr
• BMLWE is filling some of its professional positions with contractor provided personnel (such
as accounting, customer service, IT, etc.)
• Other WEs rely on contractors to provide a mix of skilled and unskilled workers to perform
O&M works on the networks and pumping stations, with minor administrative works in
some cases
• No clear data/ratios are available regarding the number of professionals provided by the
contractor
• Same employees, especially professionals, have been working with the WE for many years,
under different contractors hired by WEs
• Due to the management problems in BWE (DG’s position has been vacant between 2005 and
2010, and the Board of Directors was not active from February 2009 until April 2010), BWE
was not in a position to hire the service of a contractor to provide labor and fill some of the
gaps. Another factor affecting this process is the lack of financial resources at BWE
• The large gap in resources at all levels in general, and human resources in particular, is
partially compensated at the O&M level by assistance provided through municipalities
and/or local committees in almost all branch offices. Details of this assistance (number of
26
personnel, total cost, etc.) remain difficult to track due to the absence of any documents
within the WEs
• In addition to personnel, contractors are supposed to provide tools and transportation to
perform required works
In summary, WEs rely on contractor-provided labor to address capacity shortages. Almost half of the
current working force in WEs is provided through contractors, creating a parallel structure within
WEs. However, this solution might not be sustainable on the long-term.
2.2 Financial and Commercial
2.2.1 Sources of revenues

WEs’ main sources of revenue are as follow:
• Water service fees (for water supply and irrigation)
• Connection fees
• Meter or gauge fees
• Maintenance fees
• Penalties
• Wastewater fees (not yet introduced)
• All other fees against services provided by the WEs as mentioned in their Exploitation by-
laws (such as disconnection fees, reconnection fees, water quality testing, etc.)
• Subsidies from Central Government:
- Direct subsidies such as transfers from MEW budget to WEs’ budget
- Indirect subsidies through the financing of O&M contract of pumping stations within
WEs’ service areas
Water service fees represent the major part of WEs’ revenues. In BMLWE for example, total other
revenue is equivalent to 10% of the total establishment’s revenues in 2008 and 2009.
2.2.2 Water supply tariff structure

• The same tariff structure for water supply is applied in all four WEs in Lebanon. A lump-sum
flat tariff based on contracted volumes of water, disconnected from real consumption is
charged and collected once a year
• Contracted volumes are defined in the by-laws as follow:
- For households, based on residences’ surface, but no less than 1m3/day
- For commercial and industrial customers, based on the nature of the business
• Table 24 below shows different water supply tariffs applied in WEs
27
Table 23: Water supply tariffs applied in Lebanese WEs
NLWE SLWE
LBP BMLWE BWE
Unmetered Metered Unmetered Metered
Annual fee (based on
200,000 180,000 180,000 175,000 175,000 140,000
1 m3/day)
Maintenance 10,000 10,000 20,000 25,000 35,000 20,000
Automation of billing
3,000
system
VAT (10%) 21,300 19,000 20,000 20,000 21,000 16,000
Stamp 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
Rounding 700
Total 236,000 210,000 221,000 221,000 232,000 177,000
Source: WEs
• Customers are not broken down into categories and a unified tariff is applied to all types of
customers
• Customers’ registers are not regularly updated
• Water metering is limited. Table 25 below shows the areas where meters are available, with
the percentage of metered connection in each establishment
Table 24: Percentage of Metered Connections in Each WE

Total No. of connections 378,735 92,972 137,551 66,089 675,347
Total No. of metered connections 6,591 30,000 18,828 11,954 67,373
% metered connections 2% 32% 14% 18% 10%
Source: WEs
• Although around 10% of the connections in Lebanon are metered, volumetric tariffs based
on real consumption are still not applied
• Whenever meters are read, WEs still apply the minimum lump-sum fee plus a flat fee on
every extra volume consumed with regard to contracted volume
• Fees for water services within WEs are the same for metered and unmetered connections.
The only difference is the connection maintenance fee. Table 24 shows the different annual
tariffs in the four WEs
• No wastewater tariff is available to date. The only wastewater charge paid by customers is
limited to fees charged by municipalities against storm water, wastewater and side walk
maintenance fees, equivalent to 1.5% of the rental value of a dwelling
As a result:
• Volumetric charges prevented by the lack of meters
• Lebanon is one of the very few countries in the world still adopting this tariff structure
• Lack of volumetric charges limiting conservation incentives at the consumer level, and
production incentive at the WE level
28
• Lack of incentive for WEs to reduce losses or increase availability
• Increased reliance on expensive private providers
Figure 17: Ratio of Average Tariff to GDP per Capita
(Adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity)

Unit Price per m 3 / GDP per Capita / 10,000
Developed Countries Developing Countries 1.6 MENA Countries
0.9
0.8
0.6 0.6
0.5 0.5 0.5
0.4 0.4 0.4
0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
0.0 0.0
Source: OECD, OFWAT, World Bank, ADB, Global Water Intelligence, individual water utilities
Figure 17 above shows that the average tariff in Lebanon is comparable to the average tariff in the
MENA region, and other developing countries. However, it is slightly higher than average tariffs in
developed countries.
Based on all the above, it is clear that current water tariffs are completely disconnected from real
consumption. Accordingly, metering is required to determine real consumption and a new tariff
strategy with clear objectives (such as O&M cost-recovery, or full cost-recovery, or social equity, or
etc.) should is required as an economic instrument for Water Demand Management.
2.2.3 Billing and collection performance

• Water supply bills are issued once per year in January or February, and paid once throughout
the year
• Water fees are paid either to collectors or at the cashier in different WEs’ offices
• Proper billing system either have not been implemented yet in WEs (BMLWE and BWE), or
have been implemented but are not used to their fullest extent (NLWE and SLWE)
• Two types of collectors are generally employed by WEs:
- Collectors employed on a permanent basis with a fixed salary and percentage on
collection
- Collection contracted by WEs who do not receive a permanent salary but only a
percentage on collection
29
• Collection efficiency varies widely between WEs. Table 26 below shows the different
collection rates in WEs:
Table 25: Collection Efficiency in WEs, 2009

Total billing (Bo. LBP) 98.5 17.3 28.1 12.6 156.5
Total collection (Bo. LBP) 65.6 10.1 14.1 2.2 92
Collection rate % 66% 58% 50% 18% 59%
Source: WEs
• Given the relatively low collection rates in WEs (between 18% and 66%), total uncollected
billed from previous years of the water sector are high. Table 27 below shows the total
amount of receivables in different WEs:
Table 26: Total Accounts Receivables and Collection Efficiency, 2009

Uncollected bills from previous years (Bo. LBP) 133 60.8 101 80.2 375
Collection from previous years (Bo. LBP) 21.2 3.3 3 2 29.5
Collection rate % 16% 5% 3% 3% 8%
Source: WEs
• Given that all WEs still apply cash-based accounting (versus accrual-based accounting), it is
difficult to break down collections between collection of a given year and collection of
receivables
Tables 26 and 27 above show that collection efficiency can be improved for bills issued in a given
year and bills issued in previous years. The accumulated uncollected bills from previous years are
around 375 BLBP, with an average collection efficiency not higher than 8%.
2.2.4 Past expenditures (Capex and Opex)

• The biggest part of WEs’ expenses goes to operational expenses
• Except BMLWE, the remaining three WEs do not pay all of their operational expenses,
especially power bills
• Capital expenditures in BWE, NLWE and SLWE are limited to capital repair and replacement
• Tables 28 and 29 below summarize the total OPEX and CAPEX in each WE from its own
budget for 2009
Table 27: Total OPEX, 2009
OPEX 2009 (Bo. LBP) BMLWE NLWE SLWE BWE Total

Staff 20.8 7.7 5.8 3.9 38.2
Maintenance 9.8 2.9 3.1 0.06 15.9
Energy 17.3 4.9 19.6 6.8 48.7
Purchase of water 0 0 0 0.1 0.1
Others 13.9 1.7 0.6 0.2 16.3
O&M contracts 0 0.8 6.8 0.3 7.9
Total 61.8 18.1 36 11.3 127.3
Source: WEs
30
Table 28: Total CAPEX, 2009
CAPEX 2009 (Bo. LBP) BMLWE NLWE SLWE BWE Total

Capital repair and replacement 0.08 0.18 0.62 0 0.88
Capital renewal 6.4 0.13 0.82 0 7.35
New investment 6.6 0 0.71 0 7.31
Total 13.11 0.31 2.15 0 15.58
Source: WEs
• All investment projects are funded by international donors or government budget, with the
majority of funding channeled through the CDR. Table 30 below shows the total CAPEX
between 1994 and 2008 for water and wastewater (CDR, MEW, Council of the South and
Central Fund for the Displaced)
Table 29: Annual CAPEX
Annual CAPEX 1994 – 2008 Total Amount Total Amount

Million USD Billion LBP
Water 98 147
Wastewater 32 48
Source: World Bank (PER)
• Total yearly CAPEX covered by WEs represents less than 10% of yearly CAPEX provided by
government budget
• Only BMLWE managed so far to develop a master plan for its service area and is in the
process of implementing it (over a period of five years) for a total cost of 216 Billion LBP
• All expenses included in tables 29 and 30 are related to water supply with minimal expenses
related to wastewater in BMLWE (less than 500 million LBP per year)
• Overview of current financial and accounting systems
- Cash-based (versus accrual based)
- Lack of financial provisions for capital repair and replacement
- Absence of cost-center based chart of accounts
2.2.5 Cost of production
Table 31 shows the unit operating cost of water sales and production
Table 30: Unit operating cost (water sales and water production)

Unit operating cost – water sales (LBP/m3) 341 503 713 488 438
Unit operating cost – water production (LBP/m3) 358 263 600 441 389
Source: WEs
31
2.3 Legal / Regulatory
2.3.1 Laws governing the water sector
• The customs (us et coutumes) - The development of the society required the individual to
abide by a number of rules for the periodic distribution of water amongst all concerned. The
rules, which the passage of time had slowly forged, were recognized by the legislator as
usage and customs (us et coutumes).
• The Majalla, which was published between 1870 and 1876, is a compilation drawn from the
Napoleonic Code, the habits and customs of the countries of the Middle-East, and the
shari’a. Some of its provisions remain in force.
• The code of irrigation. dated 18 Rabih Awwal 1332 (11 February 1913). Another remaining
law of March 1918 relates to the arrangement and the renovation of common irrigating
canals
• Decree-Law (Arrêté-loi) 144/S of 10 June 1925 relating to the public domain and Decree-Law
320 of 26 May 1926 relating to the protection and the utilization of public waters constitute
the fundamental texts governing water sector
• Decree 14438 of 2 May 1970 concerning the prospection and the utilization of underground
water and Decree 65 of 1942 relating to the creation of a water user association of Nahr el
Jaouz
• The Criminal Code provides a certain number of penalties in case of any infringement in
water resource.
2.3.2 General legal regime
The general principle concerning water resources in Lebanon is that title belongs to the State by
virtue of its property of “the public domain” with some important exceptions.
Decree 9132 of October 1974 specified that the marine shelf of territorial waters also comes under
the public domain and all land adjacent to the sea could be declared of public domain by decision of
the Council of Ministers on the proposal of the Minister of Public Works.
2.3.3 The exceptions to the public domain principles
Water Rights
While conceding to the State, and thus to the public domain, the exclusive property over water
resources, the legislator established a certain number of everyday rules of possession and of
tradition consecrated water use.
Every person capable of proving rights existing prior to 26 May 1926 holds an acquired right on the
waters that cannot be taken away from him except by equitable compensation. These acquired
rights on waters are inscribed in the Land Register and are, of course, transferable by sale or
inheritance.
32
Water rainfall and spring water
Rainfall and spring water originating from land are recognized as right to the landlord to use them on
the condition to respect the third parties rights.
Groundwater
Article 3 of decree 320/26 exempts from any authorization or permits the use of water from wells
drilled on private property, the flow of which does not exceed 100 cubic meters per day on condition
that this water does not come in a surreptitious manner from a river or a source.
2.3.4 Groundwater
Art. 6 of Decree 320/26 had established the possibility for the citizens to prospect underground
water.
In the course of time however, and as a result of demand and requirements of development, the
concept of specific legislation concerning the prospecting of underground waters became prevalent.
Decree 14438 of 2 May 1970 organizing the prospection and use of groundwater was therefore
enacted. This decree constitutes a first approach to the organization of groundwater and has also
regulated the granting or the exemption of the prospection permit according to whether the drilling
depth is superior or inferior to 150 meters and according to the nature of the use of groundwater.
For a prospection permit allowing drilling beyond 150 meters requires obtaining of a preliminary
permit. In case of approval, the permit is granted by decree for a period of one year after the
determination of the taxes to be paid by the applicant in accordance with Article 9 of the same
decree before its notification. Article 7 of decree 14438/70 exempts applicants from obtaining a
drilling permit of their private property where the depth of this drilling is inferior to 150 meters.
Moreover and as specified earlier, Article 13 of decree 14438/70 has waived the requirement of a
permit altogether in the case of a use of waters by drilling in private property, provided that the
quantity of water does not exceed 100 cubic meters per day
2.3.5 Criminal Provisions
The infringement of provisions concerning public waters is supposed to be recorded by the police
forces and the civil servants at MEW. The penalties provided by the Penal Code consist of
imprisonment and/or fines. The Code specifies imprisonment up to one year and a fine for a number
of infringements.
The law also provides that whoever damages public sources, infrastructure or equipment will be
punished with the same penalties that are provided for in the Penal Code. Further penalties are
clearly designed to protect the environment.
There is little recorded instance of the application of these Articles.
2.3.6 International agreements in shared water resources
The sources of international law, as summarized in Article 38 of the Statute of the International
Court of Justice are:
• International conventions, …
33
• International custom as evidence of a general practice accepted as law;
• The general principles of law recognized by civilized nations;
• … judicial decision and teachings of highly qualified publicists.
In 1997 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Non-Navigable Uses of
International Watercourses which is the first global treaty regulating the uses of international
watercourses. Lebanon adhered to the Convention without any reservation
The Watercourses Convention contains provisions on equitable and reasonable utilization and
participation, factors relevant to equitable and reasonable utilization; and the obligation not to
cause significant harm.
It also provides that:

• Riparian states shall in their respective territories utilize an international watercourse in an
equitable and reasonable manner. This obligation is to be pursued with a view to attaining
optimal and sustainable utilization of the watercourse.
• Riparian States shall, in utilizing an international watercourse in their territories, take all
appropriate measures to prevent the causing of significant harm to other watercourse
States.
• Where significant harm is caused to another watercourse states, the State whose use causes
such harm shall, in the absence of agreement to such use, take all appropriate measures
having due regard for the provisions of Articles 5 and 6, in consultation with the affected
State, to eliminate and mitigate such harm, and where appropriate, discuss the question of
compensation.
In summary, the Watercourses Convention provides that watercourse states may regulate their
relationships by agreement. It does not prescribe the minimum standards that such an agreement
must meet. If riparian states, parties to the Convention, cannot reach an agreement, they are to
exercise due diligence and, where necessary, engage in the consultation procedure provided in order
to reach an equitable result. The topics that may play a role in the discourse are mentioned in the
Convention. While it indicates desirable aims, the Convention does not prescribe the results of the
discourse. Whether the fact-finding procedure, in the absence of a procedure for compulsory
dispute settlement, will be able to compensate for the lack of regulation of the discretionary powers
of watercourse states remains to be seen.
2.3.7 Gaps in the current legal setup delaying Private Sector Participation in water sector
Until now the private sector participation in water sector is ruled by the articles of the Decree-Law
(Arrêté loi) 320, 26 May 1926 which sets out specific provisions in respect to the issuance of permits
for use and the issuance of concessions.
The duration of the permit is determined by the permit itself. However, pursuant to Decree 320/26,
the following permits are accorded for temporary use exceeding four years: permanent pumping of
water from a waterway; irrigation of lands by waters of the public domain by motorized methods or
the use of such waters for energy; use of underground and spring waters; use of hot and mineral
springs; purification and development of marshes. It should be noted here that paragraph 2 of
34
Article 10 of Decree 320/26 specifies that if a permit for use of water is issued to a farmer; such
permit may be renewed indefinitely for successive periods of forty years.
The above-listed uses may be declared of public use and thus subjected to the specific regulations of
the concessions. In such case, their duration cannot exceed 75 years. Decree-Law 320/26 granted to
the concessionary or to the holder of a permit lasting over one year the right to certain easements,
including particularly: the right to occupy private property to the extent necessary for the channeling
of waters and enforcement of banks; the right to submerge the banks to raise the level of water
reservoirs. These easements do not apply, however, to structures, places and lands adjacent to
dwelling houses. In addition, equitable and justifiable compensation must be provided for and paid
to the eligible parties. The right to acquire private rights to waters and to sources in exchange for
compensation of the eligible parties can be done in money or in kind.
Need to have something on BOT, management contracts, concessions, etc
2.3.8 Draft water code and its alignment with set strategic objectives
A water code was drafted recently in a view to offer the new mainly following perspectives in this
matter:
• Recognition of the main legal principles prevailing actually in the field of water (i) the
sustainable management; (ii) the right to each citizen to receive water; and (iii) the
determination of the missions of the Public WEs to provide drinking water, irrigation water,
the treatment of used water, the fight against flood, drought and pollution.
• Implementation of the Water Register allowing the Public Authorities an adequate and
updated inventory of the water resources.
• Implementation of a National Water Council including the representatives of the main
authorities in charge or concerned by the water sector.
• Implementation of a water master plan to guarantee the realization of water works and
projects.
• Recognition of the administrative, environmental economic and financial requirements in a
view to assume the performed management of water resources.
• Determination of the utilization of water including the legal possibilities to private sector
participation.
2.3.9 Gaps and in water sector regulations
Taking into account the prevailing legal situation, we can conclude that series of gaps exist which
require many changes in water sector regulations.
These gaps consist of:
• Legal aspects to support strategic priorities in the water sector. In fact, the socio-economic
development requires the consideration of a choice of priorities regarding the use of water.
Whenever referring to the body of legislative and administrative texts in force in Lebanon,
no mention is made of a hierarchy of objectives between the different zones, the different
uses, or the different existing rights.
35
• The need to review law 221 of 29 May 2000 and its amendments to avoid delays in private
sector participation in the field of water.
• The need to modernize irrigation laws, thus abolishing the Ottoman law of 1913 in a view to
facilitate and organize the use of irrigation water, mainly through the creation of water users
associations.
• Aspects related to water rights taking into account that the Code of Water includes some
new provisions to abolish the water rights particularly in case of substantial change in this
right.
36
3 Sector’s Objectives and Priorities
3.1 Overall Objective
“Ensure water supply, irrigation and sanitation services over all the Lebanese territory on
continuous basis and at optimal service levels, with a commitment to environmental, economic
and social sustainability”
3.2 Water Sector Infrastructure
3.2.1 Production (and Treatment)

• Maximize the potential and improve the quality of surface water resources
• Improve management and protection of groundwater resources, moderate extractions,
promote artificial recharge, and consider this resource as a strategic reserve
• Fulfill deficits through groundwater and/or surface storage according to potential and
availability per region; priority to be given to surface storage in case of availability of both
resources
3.2.2 Transmission and Distribution

• Water Supply: Ensure proper and continuous access to high-quality water supply through
increased coverage, reduced unaccounted for water and optimized network management
• Irrigation: Provide adequate quantities and quality of irrigation water and incentivize
modern, water-saving irrigation techniques.
3.2.3 Wastewater
• Increase coverage of wastewater collection networks and treatment capacities
• Optimize current wastewater treatment processes and sludge disposal, and ensure
adequate reuse of treated effluents where applicable
3.3 Water Sector Management
3.3.1 Institutional
• Support a full implementation of the water sector reform and improve on the management
model between WEs and MEW
• Improve on capital spending responsibilities, inter-agency coordination and spending
efficiency
• Improve the management of the irrigation sector mainly by the creation of Water Users
Associations
3.3.2 Financial and Commercial

• Introduce and implement a new tariff strategy for water supply, wastewater and irrigation
• Promote private sector participation via Public Private Partnerships in operations and in
capital projects
• Implement a demand management campaign consisting of gradual implementation of
consumer metering, awareness raising, and promote higher efficiency plumbing devices
37
• Gradually achieve cost-recovery:
Water Wastewater Irrigation
At O&M level
At full cost level
3.3.3 Legal and Regulatory

• Enhance and modernize the legal setup to support the implementation of the national
water sector strategy and future requirements
• Enforce a regulatory regime which would oversee the continuous improvement of sector
performance and align WEs with leading utilities in the region and worldwide
38

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National Water

Draft – Work In Progress

1 Water Sector Infrastructure .................................................................................................... 1

Figure 1: Water Sector Value Chain................................................................................................ 1

Table 1: Average Flows in Water Courses ....................................................................................... 3

AFD Agence Française pour le Développement

1 Water Sector Infrastructure

Figure 1: Water Sector Value Chain

1 Production (& Treatment) 2 Transmission & Distribution 3 Wastewater

Pump & Transmission Storage

Networks Commercial System

Reuse Sewage Treatment Plant

1.1 Production (Water Resources)

Current Water Balance for Lebanon

To Groundwater Surface Flow

Figure 3: Renewable Water Resources in MENA Countries

Renewable Water Resources Expected Renewable Water Resources

Water Scarcity Threshold Water Scarcity Threshold

1.1.2.1 Surface water resources

Table 1: Average Flows in Water Courses

Average Flows Central/

Table 2: Main Springs per WE

Exploited Flow (MCM/yr) 107 78 100 84 369

Exploitable Flow (MCM/yr) 513 329 280 111 1,233

1.1.2.2 Existing infrastructure

Source: Hydrogeological maps of Lebanon (1/200,000)

1.1.2.3 Existing dams and hill lakes

Potential to reach more

Egypt Syria Tunisia Morocco Iran Lebanon

Source: FAO Aquastat

Qaraoun Lake Chabrouh Dam and Lake

Table 3: Existing Dams and Hill Lakes

1.1.2.4 Current capital investments (ongoing and committed)

Table 4: Ongoing and Committed Dams and Hill Lakes

Storage Elevation Cost Commissioning

1.1.3.1 Current situation

Table 5: Estimation of Licensed Private Wells

Water Use (MCM/year) Total Yield

Table 6: Estimation of Illegal (Undeclared) Private Wells

Water Use (MCM/year) Total Yield

BMLWE NLWE SLWE BWE Total

BMLWE NLWE SLWE BWE Average

1.1.3.2 Legislation and management

1.2 Transmission and Distribution

1.2.1 Water Supply

1.2.1.1 Current demand

Age (years) Transmission Distribution

BMLWE NLWE SLWE BWE

Table 11: Pipe Length per WE, 2010

BMLWE NLWE SLWE BWE Total

BMLWE NLWE SLWE BWE Total

Figure 6: Potable Water Network Coverage in MENA Region

1.2.1.3 Number of hours of supply

1.2.1.4 Non-Revenue Water

Figure 8: Non-Revenue Water Rates in WEs

Source: MEW, WEs

Best practices World average MENA average

1.2.1.5 Technical audit of existing infrastructure

BMLWE NLWE SLWE BWE

BMLWE NLWE SLWE BWE

1.2.1.6 Private Providers

Source: World Bank, PER, 2009

1.2.1.7 Existing capital investments (ongoing and committed)