Water Management in Syria
From a Gift of God to a Valuable Economic Factor
Syria is the most arid country in the watershed of the Euphrates and Tigris. To alleviate the situation, Germany is pumping € 130 million into the Syrian water sector. Kristin Helberg reports on the work of German engineers in Damascus and Aleppo
Annely
Korte sits in her sparsely furnished office in the Damascus waterworks
and plans a workshop on the topic of wastewater. The four large water
treatment plants in Syria are not maintained effectively enough, says
Korte. "Instead of taking preventative measures, action is taken only
after a breakdown," explains the 47-year-old, who works for the German
Development Service (DED) in Syria.
A German specialist in wastewater treatment has the job of showing
Syrian colleagues how to avoid emergencies by conducting routine control
checks, doing regular clean-ups, and setting up a spare parts depot.
A dried out paradise
Just a five-minute walk from Korte's office in the center of Damascus flows the Barada, or all that remains of the once-mighty river – a narrow, odorous trickle of water. Fed from the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, the Barada made Damascus into a fertile oasis in the middle of a stone desert. At one time, its clear water flowed through the city's green gardens and fruit orchards – hence Damascus' moniker as "paradise on earth." By the middle of the 20th century, there wasn't sufficient water for the city's rapidly growing population, and illegal wells were dug everywhere within the city limits, resulting in a sinking of the ground water table. Even today, unfiltered sewage water is seeping into the ground and contaminating the water below.
Wasteful use of water
Not only Damascus, but the whole of Syria is lacking an effective management system for water resources, says Johannes Wolfer, who works in the area surrounding Damascus on behalf of the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR). According to the hydrologist, Syria has a relatively large amount of water for the region, but it is distributed very unevenly and therefore must be managed more carefully. Valuable drinking water should not be used to wash cars or irrigate fruit trees. "In the long term, Syria has to move away from agriculture," says the specialist. In comparison to agriculture, more income can be generated though industry, tourism, and the service sector – with less use of water.
ven
Majid Daud, a Syrian engineer who had studied in Germany and worked
thirty years for the Ministry of Irrigation in Damascus, criticizes the
wasteful use of water in agriculture. The government wants to remain as
independent as possible from food imports, so it encourages the domestic
cultivation of sugar beets, which require vast volumes of water. One
kilogram of Syrian sugar costs five times as much as the world market
price, explains Daud, who therefore feels Syria should import instead of
producing sugar.
A new pricing system
The
Syrian end-user, who until recently had to pay only one cent per cubic
meter of water, must also do some rethinking. As the government can
cover only half of the supply costs, a new pricing system has been
introduced. Since 1 November 2007, the first 15 cubic meters of water
will cost 3.5 euro cents each and subsequent consumption is charged in
stages priced from three to twelve times as high.
The reason that price increases were not implemented sooner is due to
cultural reasons, explains Majid. "Traditionally, Syrians regard water
as a gift from God," says the engineer, "and one should therefore not
charge money for it."
On the other hand, one should not waste a heavenly gift, argues Ute Al
Tayep, who works for the DED in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo and
for months has attempted to convince her neighbours to be more
economical with water when cleaning the staircase. "Houses are cleaned
by spraying them from top to bottom with a hose," says the 29-year-old.
The city is also facing an enormous water supply problem.
A public awareness campaign
In
contrast to Damascus, Aleppo does not have its own source of water, but
must transport its water from the Euphrates 120 kilometers away. By
2009, the water main, built in 2004, will no longer meet the needs of
the city and its millions of inhabitants.
This is why per capita water consumption has been lowered from 130 to 80
liters a day. Al Tayep with a team from the waterworks began a public
awareness campaign that addressed private homes, the authorities,
schools, and religious leaders.
The German specialist was particularly impressed by the interest and
support shown by Aleppo's approximately one hundred imams. "We had to
hold the workshop between prayer sessions, because the imams had to
hurry back to their mosques on time to head the noon prayers," said the
young woman.
Difficult time management
Al Tayep is satisfied with her colleagues, even though she had to get used to their flexible working hours. State workers in Syria only earn about 120 euros a month, so they usually require additional jobs in order to feed their families. As a result, they only work three to four hours in the water treatment plant, often leaving the German expert alone on the site. "It is something you just have to accept," says Al Tayep. She claims that it wouldn't achieve anything for a German expert to demand that everyone stayed at their posts from 8 to 3. "Then no one at all would work with me." Instead, she expects that her colleagues at least let her know when they will be at work so that she can plan her activities.
Al Tayep is satisfied with her colleagues, even though she had to get used to their flexible working hours. State workers in Syria only earn about 120 euros a month, so they usually require additional jobs in order to feed their families. As a result, they only work three to four hours in the water treatment plant, often leaving the German expert alone on the site. "It is something you just have to accept," says Al Tayep. She claims that it wouldn't achieve anything for a German expert to demand that everyone stayed at their posts from 8 to 3. "Then no one at all would work with me." Instead, she expects that her colleagues at least let her know when they will be at work so that she can plan her activities.
Respect for women experts
While Al Tayep, like most German experts, complains about the Syrian
bureaucracy, Annely Korte praises the cooperation she enjoys with the
authorities in Damascus as "impeccable." Her personal relations with
Syrians has been good, stresses the 47-year-old. Her job is to establish
a countrywide network of engineers, and, in socialist Syria, this often
means dealing with women engineers.
She is taken seriously and respected as a woman, says Korte. As far as
prejudices are concerned, she sees no difference between German and
Syrian men. When responding to the concerns of her male colleagues in
Germany about whether she gets along with Arabs, the engineer has a
simple answer. "Arabs? They're only men."
