ABSTRACT
Syria’s national water policies is narrowly connected with transboundary waters since roughly one-third of its water resources are generated outside the country. This chapter analyzes the way in which the Syrian government approaches water security, highlighting the drivers and policies guiding and framing the allocation and use of water resources in Syria. These policies are often framed in discourses and narratives about water scarcity, which inform policies and solutions. For this reason, this chapter reviews the main narratives such as regarding mismanagement, climate change, and population growth. The timeline for our analysis considers Syria before the beginning of the current conflict that started in 2011. It is concluded that Syrian water policies of overexploitation of its water resources in agriculture and changes in the rural-urban relations increased water stress and made Syria vulnerable to the cycle of droughts since the early 1980s.
