Water demand management in Syria: technical, legal and institutional issues

Syria is classified amongst the semi and countries of the Middle East. It has a population of 18 million in the year 2002, and its Total Renewable Water Resources (TRWR) is estimated around 16 BCM per year. In other words, the per capita TRWR is now less than the water scarcity index (1000m(3)/person/year). Although, this would currently rank Syria amongst countries with moderate water stress, it will be soon classified as a country with severe water stress if its population continues to grow at its current rate (about 3%) and water use efficiency is not increased effectively. In Syria and until fairly recently, emphasis has been put on the supply side of water management. Demand management and improvement of patterns of water use has received less attention. Water managers and planners have given high priority to locating; developing and managing new water resources. The aim was always to augment the national water budget with new water. The most popular way of achieving this aim was to control surface flows by building new dams and creating multi-purpose reservoirs. (There are now around 160 dams in Syria with a total capacity of 14 BCM). Irrigation schemes were also built and agricultural activities were expanded greatly to achieve self-sufficiency in essential food products and food security. Over the years, however, the most attractive alternatives for the development of water resources infrastructure have already been implemented and, it is hard to think of feasible alternatives for a further increase in supply In addition, the cost of developing less accessible water is high and time consuming. Therefore, the emphasis has now been shifted to demand management. And since irrigation is the main user of water in Syria, special attention is now given to address its management deficiencies. This paper describes some of the measures that have been taken recently on the technical, institutional and legal sides of demand management in the water sector of Syria. Early signs indicate that these measures have already played a significant role in alleviating some of the mounting pressure on water resources especially in periods of draught.