Updated National Water Sector Strategy (NWSS) 2020 - Volume II

This updated NWSS is aligned with the National Water Sector Strategy of 2012. It takes into account the adoption of the Water Code (Law 77/2018) and its structuring principles, which are in turn in line with the water sector structure as defined by Law 221/2000 and its amendments. The new Strategy consists of VI Volumes, of which this is Volume II concerning the Water Sector Governance.
This second volume of the Lebanese National Water Sector Strategy 2020 is strictly aligned with SDG 6 aiming to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all and regards also wastewater, water efficiency, water quality, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), transboundary water cooperation, and ecosystem resources.
Of fundamental importance, with regard to water governance, is the matter of the Human resources of the Water Establishments (WEs) and the Strategy envisages a reorganization that should be based on (i) increasing the staff number; (ii) developing performance-based contracts and providing specific training and support; (iii) creating a unit in charge of supervising the private operators and, if necessary, reassigning the staff currently in charge of maintenance operations to this private operator supervision unit; (iv) recruiting specialist water, wastewater, and irrigation engineers, as well as IT specialists (engineers or technicians) to develop the WE’s monitoring and data management capacities; (v) promoting capacity-building actions aligned with investment planning (if possible, any infrastructure project should have a component to support the WE concerned and strengthen its coordination with the MoEW and the other concerned bodies. Furthermore, all of the organizational charts are outdated and require revision with appropriate flexibility to help the WEs develop on several levels, including (i) improving the management of their current functions (i.e. enhancing the water service and developing customer relations); (ii) managing wastewater facilities; (iii) developing irrigation-related activities; (iv) developing structured service monitoring and enhanced reporting.
In the absence of a national water tariff strategy in Lebanon, each WE has developed its own adjustment tariff according to its specific costs and political and social constraints, and tariff levels and structures are harmonized within each WEs. Therefore, it is highly recommended to review the tariff grid with the aim of simplification. This reorganization of the pricing system requires compliance with several principles: (1) on the consumer side, it requires that the polluter-pays, user-pays, and beneficiary responsibility principles be respected; (2) on the provider side, this system requires compliance with the principles of transparency and accountability. Other measures to be provided under an environmental view are (i) introducing metering of raw water for irrigation; (ii) establishing a listing of private wells and springs through a census to avoid the use of private water resources with environmental hazards ranging from over-pumping down to discharging effluent in the environment.
In line with SDG 6, the Strategy seeks to be inclusive and in particular aims at (i) by 2030, achieving access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, while paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations; (ii) increasing the proportion of the population using safely managed sanitation services and handwashing facility with soap and water; (iii) facing the issue of the slum population and the illegal connection.