Building a dam in Janna could affect the water flow to Jeita Springs
The German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources published a [report] back in May 2012 on the Janneh dam and gave the below conclusion and recommendations:
Conclusion and Recommendations:
The results of all four measurement campaigns prove the existence of a massive infiltration into the J4 aquifer in the Upper Nahr Ibrahim Valley and have major implications for the currently ongoing planning of the Janneh dam which extends well into the assumed zone of high infiltration.The exact location of the infiltration zone could be narrowed down to the area shown in Figure 23. The infiltration zone could start at an elevation of approx. 80m asl going up to around 860 m asl. The major infiltration is assumed to be at an elevation of 810-820 m asl. The planned minimum level of the Janneh dam would be at 834 m asl, the maximum level at 839 m asl. Due to infiltration between 14 and 29 m of storage would be lost completely.
In view of the current findings, it is strongly recommended not to go ahead with the construction of the planned Janneh dam.
The infiltrating water is believed to flow towards Jeita spring, constituting a large share of discharge at Jeita Spring. Any interference at the infiltration zone would directly affect Jeita spring. Should it be attempted to seal the infiltration zone, though practically impossible, discharge at Jeita spring would be significantly reduced.
It is recommended to establish a completely new monitoring of spring flow at Afqa and Rouaiss springs because both stations are in a state of disrepair and do not produce useful results. Construction costs for both are in the range of 1 Mio USD.
Despite these facts, The Energy and Water Ministry Gebran Bassil is going ahead with plans to build a dam in Janna, knowing that this plan might potentially damage Jeita Grotto.
Is Bassil aware of this report? Does he know something we don’t?
Either way, he’s a resigned minister now and hopefully this plan will never see the light.
Lebanon has enough water that can supply up to 7 countries of it’s size.
the problem is with the water connection infrastructure in the country!
water dams are not recommended because they change the landscape and the natural flow of the water.
they are usually used in dry countries.
it’s much better to fix the infrastructure…
yala we wont have anything left in few years
BGR report is wrong based on all studies done by Khatib & Alami, Artelia and Safege. After a lot of testing ( including tracer tests done based on BGR requests ) they found out that the source of water into Jeita is not from Naher ibrahim. Janneh Dam will provide 95 Million m3 of potable water and 140 MW of electric power.It has no effect on the water flow to Jeita Springs. I can provide you with all the real facts, studies and findings only if you are interested in publishing the truth.
PS : You forgot to mention the last part of the daily star article
“Tests are ongoing at the Energy and Water Ministry but Zakhour said the report findings were based on data so outsized that they defied credibility.
Margane’s insistence on publishing them and drawing attention to them could endanger Lebanon’s relationship with the German natural resource organization, Zakhour said.
“The implication at the end of the day is if he is totally wrong in his theory, since he didn’t wait to see the result of the test, if we find that he is wrong, and everything is wrong [then] we can say thanks and goodbye and BGR can go out.”
omg
Its all about commissions. Like Chabrouh Dam and Emile Lahoud’s commissions and all the lands he bought (and his friends) at 20$/m2, now the are worth 400$/m2
I can’t believe all those campaigns against the construction of the Janneh dam… while at the same time, we don’t have enough water and electricity in this country.