On September 3, 2024, the head of the Litani River National Authority, Dr. Sami Alawieh, received a delegation of industrial establishments located in the upper basin of the Litani River, headed by the head of the Industrialists' Association in the Bekaa, Mr. Nicola Abu Faisal, where the attendees provided an explanation of the environmental issues related to their establishments.

During this meeting, it was decided to form a joint technical committee between the Litani River National Authority and industrialists in order to determine the treatment principles in light of technical expertise and previous experiences. The Litani River National Authority expressed its readiness to assist all industrialists in improving the treatment of polluted water resulting from their factories and protecting the Litani River from industrial pollution through this joint committee. It also praised the industrialists who are fully prepared to treat water inside their factories and focused on the need to continue treatment and operation of stations to avoid any additional pollution.

On August 5, 2024, and upon the assignment of the sole criminal judge in Zahle, expert Carol Sakhn, along with the technical teams of the National Litani River Authority, revisited 3 industrial establishments, namely Hajjar Food Factory, Chateau Kherbet Qanafar, and Alpha Interfood Factory, to take samples of the treated industrial water in the aforementioned establishments and evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment.

The expert and the technical teams of the Authority also took samples from two hospitals, namely Chtaura Hospital and Rayak Hospital, at their request after they reported that the treatment plants had achieved the required effectiveness.

Statement issued by the Syndicate of Employees and Workers of the National Litani River Authority
Commenting on the decision of the Ministry of Finance to refuse to implement the provisions of Decree No. 13020 dated 2/28/2024 on employees, contractors and workers of the National Litani River Authority, despite the applicability of the decision of the Board of Directors of the Authority, which includes transferring credits for this purpose, to the relevant laws and regulations, and coupled with the approval of the Ministry of Energy and Water.

The Syndicate of Employees and Workers of the National Litani River Authority addresses all concerned political and governmental bodies, the need to draw the attention of the Ministry of Finance to the need to take into account the principles of exercising guardianship over public institutions in accordance with the provisions of Decree 4517 related to the organization of public institutions, in a manner that allows these institutions to ensure the operation of public facilities, especially in light of the current circumstances and the state of war that the country is experiencing, which threatens the safety of vital facilities of the Authority, especially the Qaraoun Dam, hydroelectric power plants and irrigation projects that fall within the scope of Israeli attacks.

In light of the current circumstances, and in light of the risk of the lives of the Authority's employees to serve the steadfast citizens and farmers of the South, the Syndicate appeals to the Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Nabih Berri, and the Prime Minister, Mr. Najib Mikati, to ask the Minister of Finance to review this unjust decision in a way that allows the Authority to continue to carry out its duties, strengthens the internal front in the face of Israeli attacks, and ensures the steadfastness of the population in the targeted villages, by securing electricity and irrigation water, and allows the stability of the public network of the Electricity of Lebanon through the production of the Litani Authority, to ensure the continued supply of vital facilities benefiting from public service lines, especially the airport and water and sewage pumping stations.

The Authority points out that the implementation of the provisions of the decree only includes securing a fuel tank allowance for the Authority's employees to enable them to reach their work centers and secure shifts around the clock in the power plants and pumping stations.

Finally, the Syndicate addresses the Ministry of Finance, does not the employee who risks his life and sheds his blood deserve to receive fuel to reach his place of work..? Or his martyrdom on the road could contribute to reducing the burden on the treasury.
Syndicate Council
08/06/2024

On 4-7-2024, the sole criminal judge in Zahle, Mohammad Sharaf, issued three judicial rulings against institutions accused by the National Authority of the Litani River for the crime of polluting the Litani River.

Among these institutions is one of the industrial institutions classified as the most dangerous to the Litani River, which is the company Columph of Lebanon LLC, owned by Armand Yaacoub Al-Saght, which specializes in the manufacture of concrete strengthening powder, paint materials and anti-staining materials. The second is the company Youssef Group LLC, owned by Joseph Yaacoub Youssef, which specializes in the Arabization, packaging and wrapping of vegetables and fruits. The third ruling was against an unlicensed plastic factory owned by Antoine Al-Murr.

The three issued rulings convicted the defendants, owners of the aforementioned industrial establishments, and fined them and obligated them to plant pine tree seedlings on the banks of the Litani River and conduct periodic inspections under the supervision of the Ministry of Environment and the National Authority of the Litani River, in addition to closing the unlicensed factory until it obtains the necessary licenses that allow it to continue its work.

- The ruling of the company Columph of Lebanon, owned by Armand Yaacoub, was outraged.

- The ruling of Youssef Group Company, owned by Joseph Yacoub Youssef

- The ruling of Antoine Adib Al-Murr

The National Litani River Authority sent a series of letters to His Excellency the Minister of Energy and Water, Dr. Walid Fayyad, His Excellency the Minister of Interior, Judge Bassam Mawlawi, His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Firas Abiad, His Excellency the Director General of State Security, Major General Tony Saliba, and to the Governor of the Bekaa, Judge Kamal Abu Jaoudeh, and the Governor of Baalbek-Hermel, Mr. Bashir Khodr, regarding the ban on irrigating crops with the waters of the Litani River and its tributaries in the upper basin of the Litani River and the necessity of ensuring health security, the quality of irrigation water, and food safety within the framework of the pursuit and search for food security. The Authority requested the aforementioned authorities to take measures aimed at generalizing the ban on irrigating all agricultural lands and crops from the Litani River in the upper basin of the Litani River within the scope of the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate and the Bekaa.

Book of the Minister of Energy and Water

Book of the Minister of Interior and Municipalities

Book of the Governor of Baalbek-Hermel

Bekaa Governor's Book

State Security's Book

On May 22, 2024, the maintenance team in the Irrigation Department of Lebaa, under the supervision of the Investment and Maintenance Department, completed maintenance of the main network with an external diameter of 620 mm between the towns of Marah Al-Habas and Lebaa before the double outlet No. 8 - 9/4 at a distance of 120 meters. After testing the network and ensuring that there was no water leakage from it, it was re-fed with irrigation water and supplied again to the areas that had been cut off.

The Egyptian newspaper Al-Mal's included in its No. 4201, published on the 28th of December 2023, an artical entitled "Head of the Environmental Affairs Agency in Al-Thaghr: Sensors monitor the drains of industrial facilities 24/24" 

The installing sensors strategy on the drains facilities discharging its water to fresh and non-fresh water bodies, as well as the Mediterranean Sea, so that industrial drainage, its quality, and the quality of the water falling on the water body to which it is connected are monitored in a way that it does not cause pollution.

Litani river authority indicates that applying this strategy helps control the sources of pollution of the Litani River’s water to a large extent, as it is possible to adopt this system in institutions that have been obligated by the Litani river authority to install refining stations to treat their industrial waste before diverting it to the course of the Litani River or to one of its tributaries.

Water is usually affected by several factors that lead to changing its color and smell. In the summer or when the temperature rises, the color of the water in Lake Qaraoun changes to become green. The most prominent reasons that lead to this are:

Climate change and temperature rate:
The climate in general has an effect on the color of the water, as it varies according to temperature, and ranges from blue to green as it rises. Loss of ecosystem health in lake water may also lead to a shift in color.

Cyanobacteria:
Bacteria that live in water, become more active and float to the surface as temperatures rise. Therefore, the green color increases in the summer as a result of the reproduction of these types of bacteria, which are also called “blue-green algae.”

The technical teams at the Litani River National Authority have begun the winter sewer cleaning work that they carry out annually as the precipitation season approaches, in order to avoid rainwater overwhelming public and private property.