of Geography, faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, Lebanese University.

 

Zahle, Beqaa, Lebanon.

 

The influence of the river water quality on irrigated crops: Case of the Berdawni River, Beqaa, Lebanon  

 

The pollution in the water used for irrigation is the essential problem facing many countries in the world. According to the report published in 2007 by the Strategic Group of Study on Sustainable Development of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the pollution of river's water, resulting from industrial discharges and the absence of the drain sewage systems, forms the major problem of the irrigation water in China that form 7% of water resources on the planet. Lebanon, one of the agricultural countries that is considered the second water tower in the Middle East after Turkey, suffers from the problem of pollution in the water of its rivers. That water is used to irrigate the agricultural lands. The catchment area of the Berdawni River can be regarded as a typical case to study the impact of the water quality of the rivers on the irrigated crops: The basin of the Berdawni River is localized in the region of the Central Beqaa which is strongly cultivated by the irrigated crops (potatoes ...). In addition, that basin supplies water to the Berdawni River, a tributary of the Litani River (the longest river in Lebanon with a basin area that forms 20% of the Lebanese land). The aim of our project that was executed throughout the hydrological year 2015 - 2016 (1-9-2015 to 1-9-2016) was to study the variations of the concentration of the parameters indicating the quality of water of the Berdawni River (PH, bacterial analysis ...) all throughout the seasons. That was in order to know if these variations go beyond the natural proportions. By consequence, that can pollute the irrigated crops. The results were unexpected: Bacterial pollution throughout the year resulting from the domestic wastewater, chemical pollution released by industries located along the river (abnormal PH ...), solid materials pollution (high turbidity …) and high chemical substances concentration in some crops irrigated by the water of the river. These results show the alarming situation of the quality of the water used in irrigation that should instigate policymakers to take some serious decisions to improve its quality in order to keep crops.