ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses groundwater flow in the Orontes River basin and changes which occurred in the past forty years as a result of the massive expansion of irrigated lands using the groundwater resources. The region contains significant karstic water resources supplying springs in the upper and middle reaches of the basin. Although variations in annual flows are difficult to assess precisely, there has been a significant decrease since the 1960s. The Syrian-Lebanese agreement on sharing of the Orontes water, signed in 1992, focused almost exclusively on surface water resources. The drilling of wells in Lebanon was restricted only near the Orontes River. Amendments to the agreement, in 1997 and 2002, restricted the drilling of wells in the Lebanese section of the basin as a whole. However no restrictions were imposed on groundwater withdrawals in Syria. Because of the continuity of the main Jurassic-Cretaceous aquifer between the two countries the latter withdrawals are likely affect groundwater resources in Lebanon.
