QARAOUN, Lebanon: The earth is parched and dry along what was once the Litani River. Rust-colored rocks tower above the base of the river, now dry, at the point where it embraces the Qaraoun Lake, and the odor of sewage overwhelms the senses.
Cracks in the ground are lined with empty plastic bottles, discarded shoes and soda cans. Near the center of the river is blue-green mud and sludge that moves with the wind. And nearby, a solitary bridge stands defiantly, many rocks dislodged, its pillars stained by two centuries of the river’s trials.
The bridge across the Litani was built in 1800 by priests who wanted to link territories owned by the nearby Ayn al Jawz monastery in the Western Bekaa and the east of the valley that were separated by the waterway. They also built massive wheat grinders to cater to the local population, and rented out land in exchange for Ottoman-era liras.
In the 1950s, the Qaraoun Dam was built and the water in the area rose, eventually flooding the old bridge and wheat factory. Father Salem Farah, the priest in charge of the Ayn al-Jawz monastery near the lake, said this is the first time since at least 1959 that the Litani’s water declined to the point where the entire bridge is visible.
Now the immediate area surrounding Qaraoun Lake and the point where the Litani empties into it is nearly devoid of movement, a victim of one of the driest years on record in Lebanon.
Looking on the bright side, Father Farah says at least now there is a connection between the West Bekaa’s Christian and Shiite villages and their Sunni neighbors to the east, at a time of heightened sectarian tensions in the region.
“God decided that there should be a drought so we have the bridge again and there can be a link between the Sunnis with the Christians and the Shiites,” he said. “God decided it so there can be engagement between all the sects.”
But for local tourism, agriculture and industry, “it’s a catastrophe.”
“We don’t know when it will rain and even if it does, if the river will flow,” Father Farah said.
The priest said local electricity generation had declined as the Litani dried up and the lake’s water decreased, and so did agriculture in the surrounding areas.
Moreover, dead fish now line some of the areas where the water has retreated, leading to a loss of the large carps that populate the area, the only place where they can be found in Lebanon.
Father Farah wants the government to lead a cleanup effort to remove the garbage and sewage for when the Litani flows again and the lake regains some of its former glory. He says the water is dirty, but not polluted with dangerous chemicals or industrial effluent.
Tourists have also abandoned the area and restaurants and cafes are losing business, he said.
Ali Hashem, the owner of the Loloat al-Buhaira (The Pearl of the Lake) restaurant, sat at its entrance, rows of empty chairs lining the terrace, which used to be only a few meters from where the lake met the earth. Hashem said this had been the worst year for his restaurant, with tourists abandoning the area with the lake’s retreat and the ongoing security crises in the region.
The lake’s retreat ruins a major selling point for tourists and visitors who often rent small ferries for a cruise. Now many of the ferries lie abandoned in the sand like tiny Noah’s Arks.
“All the work is gone,” he said, adding that the lack of water had also hobbled local electricity plants near the Qaraoun Dam, introducing daily electricity blackouts to the area.
And agriculture has suffered too. Alfonse Abdallah, a local farmer, said his entire crop of peaches failed this year because of the lack of rain. His apple orchards survived because they need less water than the thirsty peaches.
The area is also known for its olive and walnut trees that line its picturesque roads.
Abdallah said this was also the worst year he had experienced in years of farming here, with local springs also running dry.
“If the lack of rain and snow continues, it will become a watering hole,” he said of the Litani River.
Nadim Farajalla, professor of hydrology and water resources at the American University of Beirut, said the average rainfall this year made it one of the top 10 driest years in Lebanon in the past century. But he cautioned against drawing inferences from anecdotal evidence on water level, as well as coming to conclusions from a single dry year.
Lebanon experiences low annual rainfall on average once every six years, according to data collected by Farajalla and his colleagues.
“These phenomena are natural variations in climate,” he said, adding that if the dry years grow more frequent then other explanations must be sought.
The Litani River relies on the formation of snow patches in Lebanon’s mountains. When the snow accumulates it begins infiltrating into the soil, recharging the groundwater. The Litani’s source lies at the Illeik springs in Baalbek, which are replenished by this groundwater.
But global warming has reduced the size of snow packs and the time that they remain frozen, reducing their infiltration into the soil and depleting groundwater.
Farajalla led a study at AUB that looked at the expected impact of climate change on the occurrence of droughts in Lebanon if the current climate projections hold.
His team found that, by the year 2040, the previous pattern was likely to be reversed, with a single wet year occurring every six dry years.
Farajalla urged the building of more dams to capture rainwater in order to hold it as a reserve during dry years, but said political bickering has often delayed implementing many water-related projects that have been in the pipeline since the government announced a comprehensive water strategy in 2012 to address the country’s chronic water shortages.
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