Key Takeaways:
- Severe rationing by public sector water utilities in the dry summer months will force Lebanese households to source water from unregulated and unlicensed private sources – including monopolistic and profit-seeking water trucking services expected to engage in price gouging – which will disproportionately affect lower-income residents.
- Drought is expected to take a particularly high toll on the agricultural sector, threatening both livelihoods and food security. Water scarcity is forcing many farmers to use untreated water sources, raising health risks and worsening soil conditions. Others will pay significantly more for alternative water sources or accept lower crop yields.
- Drought and water scarcity are associated with increased risks of waterborne diseases. The 2022 cholera outbreak in Lebanon was attributed to clean and safe water access constraints. Drought incentivizes households and businesses to overexploit existing water sources and use unsafe and non-sanitized alternatives.
- The Litani River Authority (LRA) – which provides electricity to 109 municipalities in southeast Lebanon and generated 15.5% of state-produced electricity in 2024 – will likely have to shut down its hydropower plants due to low water levels in the Lake Qaraoun reservoir. This will negatively impact household livelihoods in southeastern Lebanon, disrupt regional infrastructure, and could further reduce national electrical power supply, raising the risk of social tensions.
- The Lebanese government has drawn up and enacted several policies to mitigate the impact of water shortages and drought, including the 2012 National Water Sector Strategy and the 2016 National Agricultural Strategy. Political tensions, the 2019 economic crisis, and damage inflicted during the 2024 Hezbollah-Israel conflict have contributed to delayed implementation of these plans.
By Crisis Analytics Team, Mercy Corps Lebanon
