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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.

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