Litani River Authority staff rehabilitating the Qaraoun Dam in the Bekaa.

USAID

Lebanon’s water governance and infrastructure have suffered from neglect and damage through years of civil strife. It is estimated that less than half of Lebanese are connected to official water supplies, which often do not work properly or at all. As a result, nearly one in three Lebanese buys alternative sources of drinking water, usually from mobile water trucks or in bottles, and those who cannot afford to purchase their water fall through the cracks, relying on poor-quality water for their households. Water quality is also deteriorating as a result of surface and underground water pollution caused by decades of urbanization, lack of proper waste management systems, and irregular dumping of waste of all kinds in rivers, sea outfalls and valleys.

USAID’s water and sanitation programs are designed to promote water resource management and water quality to expand reliable public service delivery, improve health conditions and promote economic growth.

Our programming addresses two key goals:

• To improve water services by building the capacity of the four regional water authorities so that  they can adequately manage this resource and ensure that Lebanese citizens have access to safe, reliable and affordable water. 
• To address the problem of pollution and raise user awareness and reverse the depletion of limited water resources.