The Fall of the Bisri Dam
The people finally won.
Six years after its controversial launch, the Bisri Dam Project has been partially canceled by the World Bank due to the Lebanese government’s failure to meet required standards by September 4th, 2020.
For the first time in a while, most Lebanese politicians agreed on the Bisri Dam’s need as part of the 2010 National Water Sector Strategy. Considered as a response to the recent climate change projections, the Bisri Dam sought to provide clean-water security for the 1.6 million residents of the capital Beirut and the neighboring Mount Lebanon. The strategy also wanted to reduce the local dependence on wells and bottled water in fear of salt-water intrusion.
The plan was fairly simple: we need water, so we build a dam. To be located in Southern Lebanon, the Bisri Dam was supposed to carry a massive 125 million cubic meter, filled naturally in the winter for summer use. Then, solely by the force of gravity, the water would flow through the 26-kilometer underground tunnel to be treated in the Wardanieh water treatment plant and goes all the way to Beirut.
Considered one of Lebanon’s largest projects, the Bisri dam required a $474 million loan from the World Bank, alongside $128 million from the Islamic Development Bank and $15 million from the Lebanese government. It came during the time of dollar liquidity scares and the slow rise of currency inflation.
Bisri Dam Project Analysis
The World Bank set up two international expert boards to oversee the construction of the dam. The first one was the International Panel of Experts of Dam Safety. One of the significant opposing arguments to the Bisri dam is its location: it is placed on the critical intersection of the Bisri and Roum seismic faults. Thee water’s weight might trigger the shift of the rocks underneath and earthquakes across the Levant Region. However, the project enlisted state-of-the-art safety assessment and monitoring equipment, alongside the expert panel’s assurance that it is designed not to trigger any seismic repercussions. Note that this assessment hasn’t been updated since 2016.
The second panel was concerned with the environmental and social protection. Despite the World Bank’s elaborate Environment and Social Management Plan, the civil society called for the immediate annulment of the plan to protect local biodiversity and preserve cultural sites. This dam posed a major threat to the natural scene of the Bisri Valley, coupled with the archeological wonders it carries that date back to the Bronze Age. Furthermore, the valley is a hub for agricultural development and production with annual revenue of $125 million. The construction of the dam would decrease agricultural activity that already only represents 3.2% of the national GDP. Add to that, Lebanon is a party to the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds. This valley serves as a home for many migratory birds protected by law. Therefore, the National Campaign to Protect the Bisri Valley attacked the legality of the dam construction.
Bisri Dam is Not The Only Solution
In 2016, the Lebanese Government issued a thorough analysis of possible alternatives. This paper showed the need for dam and non-dam actions to increase long-term water volume. On the other hand, multiple reports, mainly the UNDP’s 2014 Assessment of Groundwater Resources of Lebanon, showed that the real source of water scarcity is the corruption and mismanagement of water. Dams have proven to be a failed experiment, especially in the Mseilha Dam, where public roar arose due to the pictures of the empty artificial lake. Instead, hydrologists have praised the efficacy of submarine springs that are capable of providing six times the Bisri Dam capacity.
Similar to electrical plants, dams constitute a band-aid solution. In a country where corruption roams freely, dams are attractive: let’s ask for a half a billion dollars in loans we cannot afford. It offers room for fund mismanagement, as previously seen in other failed investment projects. Moreover, based on capital expenditure figures, estimates of corruption in reconstruction contracts amounts to $1.5 billion per year. In email exchanges between the regional World Bank director Saroj Kumar Jha and staff, Kumar explicitly mentions that “the president prefers to proceed with the project,” referring to the Lebanese President Michel Aoun, whose party previously held the Energy Ministry.
Finally, after a long wait, despite the World Bank’s support for mega-dam projects, it pulled the plug. This decision came after governmental negligence and missing deadlines to address comments over the Ecological Compensation Plan, specifically the mechanisms between the Ministry of Energy and Water and the Beirut Mount Lebanon Water Establishment. Especially after the August 4th explosion, the Bisri Dam was the least of their worries. The final cancellation is pending legal agreements and disbursement of promised funds for contractors and consultants.
The canceled portion of the loan is US$244 million. The rest must be paid back by the Lebanese Government, adding up to its $90 billion debt and 500$ in currency inflation. Dams might stop the flow of water, but in exchange, it is the siphon that eases the flow of money into the pockets of politicians. Lebanon is now under great scrutiny after the French pledge to rally international grants if specific governance and anti-corruption are met. With unemployment surpassing the 50% mark and no governmental consensus on ministerial positions, the Lebanese conundrum arises: is your pledge to your country or your politicians? Stay tuned.
Sources:
- https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/bisri-dam#overview
- https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/factsheet/2020/09/04/bisri-dam-project-cancelation
- https://www.pseau.org/outils/ouvrages/ejolt_bisri_dam_lebanon_2017.pdf
- The Strategic Environmental Assessment of the National Water Sector Strategy (MoEW 2014): https://bit.ly/2qXxLpu
- Assessment of Groundwater Resources of Lebanon (UNDP 2014): https://bit.ly/2KM7Mhq
- Beyond Dams: Options and Alternatives (American Rivers and International Rivers 2004): https://bit.ly/2FkH1Kv
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335374912_The_Bisri_dam_project_A_dam_on_the_seismogenic_Roum_fault_Lebanon
- https://www.anti-corruption.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Corruption-in-reconstruction-TIRI-Adwan.pdf
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/world-bank-funded-dam-in-lebanon-mirrors-governance-crisis/2020/09/02/9dfdf642-ece3-11ea-bd08-1b10132b458f_story.html
