Written by Rima Youssef Translated by Daisy Khalil NNA - Water, this odorless and colorless substance, is the secret of life. Lebanon, which was considered as rich in water resources, has been suffering from wasted waters which make their way right into the sea, bringing no benefit to the citizens. Therefore, the Lebanese keep calling on the state not to manage Lebanon's water resources but rather make them eligible to all of them. Since the beginning of all times, Lebanon was one of the most important sources of water in the eastern Mediterranean as it contains 40 streams, with a surface water level worth about 4.1 km3. Lebanon's underground water is renewed at a rate of 3.2 km3, with rivers that constitute 2.5 km3 of it. Lebanon has about 2000 water springs spread along its territory. This ensures the flow of water throughout the year in 17 rivers of the total 40 rivers mentioned above. Men can live without food for two months and would require weeks to show symptoms of lack of vitamins or minerals, but without water, man can survive for a few days only. Thirty five thousand people die daily due to the lack of fresh water. For this reason, the United Nations General Assembly designated March 22, as the first World Water Day, devoted to celebrate freshwater. It is a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

And since water conservation requires good management, the Big Blue association launched, three years ago, national campaigns to clean Lebanon's rivers in order to preserve surface and underground water. Joining efforts with the concerned ministries and the General Directorate of Water and Electric Resources, the Big Blue shed light, through media, on the importance of freshwater and the best means to manage its spending. The General Directorate of Water and Electric Resources, represented by its director general, Fadi Qomair, has set a year plan for water conservation, the utilization of river waters and dams' building. The plan also suggests studying the reality of water in Lebanon and the necessary requirements to meet the water shortage. The project is centered on five key points: storing quantities of abundant rainfalls - estimated at about one billion cubic meters per year - for use in periods of scarcity, and thus reducing the use of groundwater reserves, except in some necessary cases (such as lakes and dams' building). Rationally using water resources, reducing the cost of energy used in pumping, increasing the level of aquifers' feeding (construction of refining plants), finding sources of funding to the carried out water projects, and controlling floods on main waterways are also on the list of measures that need to be adopted. Qomair's office pointed out that the ten-year plan was finally complete and assured that Shabrouh dam was now feeding Keserwan region with water on 24/7 basis. As vital as it is, water should be among every country's top priorities, knowing that dirty and polluted water kills 3.4 million people every year and that a child dies every 21 seconds from a water-related disease.

===========D.K.