%0 Journal Article
%T On the Need for Including Groundwater Allocation in Future Negotiations on the Orontes
%A Christopher Peterson
%J Journal of Water Resource and Protection
%P 731-739
%@ 1945-3108
%D 2022
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/jwarp.2022.1411040
%X A series of treaties between Lebanon and Syria on the use of the Orontes (¡®Assi) River¡¯s flows emerged in the mid-1990s, being reformed twice to result in a finalized 2002 agreement allocating Lebanon 96 million cubic meters (MCM) out of 403 MCM as measured at the Hermel Bridge gauge. Focusing on the area south of Ar-Rastan, Syria, this article seeks to explore these treaties¡¯ treatment of groundwater, ultimately demonstrating that it is not sufficiently accounted for. This allows for intensive groundwater abstractions¡ªwhich may be beyond the aquifer¡¯s recharge rate¡ªto be undertaken in Syria. The paper concludes with recommendations to better manage the basin¡¯s groundwater resources, which include improving groundwater data, using these data to calibrate improved hydrologic models, and a renegotiation of the treaty to better account for groundwater use.
%K Orontes River
%K Assi River
%K Groundwater
%K Transboundary Watercourses
%K Transboundary Groundwater
%K Lebanon-Syria Relations
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=120951