Syrian efforts to rationalize water consumption
A Syrian ministerial committee in charge of limiting water consumption has called for concluding an agreement with Turkey over the waters of the Tigris and the Euphrates.
Among proposals it submitted to the Syrian cabinet, the committee urged the implementation of an intensive and continued diplomatic campaign to convince Turkey to sign an agreement that guarantees the rights of Syria and Lebanon of the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates, according to the International law.
Syrian water expert Shibli al-Shami said that Turkey's declaration the state of warning for the break of all electricity stations on the Turkish dams, indicates the possibility it might seize the waters of Tigris and the Euphrates in order to fill the dams so as to provide its own electricity, at the expense of the Syrian water sources which come from the two said rivers of Tigris and the Euphrates.
However, Syria demands Turkey to have a final agreement over the waters of the two rivers that ensures to it 1000 cubic meters per second as the minimum instead of a provisional agreement signed in 1987, according to which Turkey gives Syria and Iraq 500 cubic meters of waters per second from the two rivers.
The Syrian ministerial committee also proposed to reconsider the set agricultural plan. It said that the agricultural sector in Syria consumes 90% of the country's water resources and therefore there is no need for non- economic plantation which consume lot of water. The committee called for encouraging farmers to set up a modern networking for irrigation through giving them loans that can be refunded without interests, besides preventing uncovered irrigation channels in a way to prevent water deterioration caused by vibration.
The committee also called for not licensing any new industrial firm unless it includes a modern treatment unit for reusing waters, to maintain and repaid water networks and to accelerate the completion of the study on desalination of sea waters for the purpose of irrigation and industry.
The committee also called for releasing water legislation that states legal fields for water uses and have heavy penalties against those who waste waters.
Syria has rung the bell of danger over shortage of its waters in all parts of the country.
A Study prepared by the international research center for underground areas said that Syria is under the water poverty line which is estimated at 1,000 cubic meters of waters annually per each person.
At a time when demands for potable waters is increasing with the increase of heat wave, the Syrian government has since very recent time started to apply the policy of water consumption guidance measures.
These include cutting waters from Damascus for 13 hours every day.
However, previous drought seasons contributed a lot in the reduction of surface and underground water revenues and as a result underground waters in Damascus has become at a depth of 150 and 200 meters after it was only at the depth of 15 meters in 1985.
The reason behind the deterioration in the reservoir of underground waters goes back to strong use of waters in agriculture and for drinking purposes.
Moreover, Drilled random and unlicensed wells reached 47% out of the total 160,000 water wells distributed in various parts of Syria, besides the water rainfall for 1999-2000 season constituted only 64% of the total rainfall estimated at 46.5 billion cubic meters every year.
At the meantime, the Syrian dailies, on daily basis publish stories on water shortage.
Very recently the Syrian Arabic language dailies al-Thawra and Tishreen warned against the fact that Damascus suffer a big potable water crisis and that this crisis will be escalated in the future unless there will be a correct water planning.