Water scarcity in Lebanon: can Managed Aquifer Recharge offer a solution for irrigation?

Could you tell us more about Edde’s Estate?

Edde’s Estate is not just a farm, it is a reserve. We work hard to preserve the environment, flora and fauna. Uphill we have a deer reserve used for reintroducing and reproducing deer into the Lebanese wilderness. Furthermore, we grow wine grapes, table grapes, olives, and we have a dog farm. We grow wheat and several vegetables, and apples, prunes – so lots of variation on terms of crops. I live in Beirut, so I commute every day from my home to Edde’s Estate. Especially in spring and summer time, the working days are long. That’s a farmer’s life. There are 15 permanent employees working at the Edde’s Estate, but we always have temporally staff. For example today, we have around 120 extra workers. Some days we even have 150 to 200 extra workers, depending on the job that needs to be done. Most of them are Syrian workers. Many Syrians are temporally hired in the Bekaa Valley for these kind of jobs. This way, Syrians can earn some extra money apart from the basic allowance they receive from the UN.

What’s the thing that distinguishes Edde’s Estate from other farms?

The owner is a real environmentalist, and water preservation is one of his main priorities. We forbid hunting on our land. We use pesticides in a very controlled way, we never apply more than necessary. But even so, we are a big farm, so being industrial is still important. Cost-effectiveness is always pursued. Using pesticides entirely is something we cannot avoid. We try to grow some crops organically. Still, the requirements for organic crops are difficult to meet, but we are trying. Twigs that break of our trees, we decompose so we can reuse them for soil. We are slowly making steps towards organic crops, but this process will definitely take a least 3 to 5 more years.

What other ways do you use to protect your crops?

We are very depended on birds, due to the fact that we have a big problem with mice that eat the crops. So we hung up bird houses all over our land, mainly for owls. At the same times, some birds eat insects too. The beauty of the natural ecosystem is that everything is balanced, and we humans are destructing it. We try to restore it, in the most plausible way we can think of. This is one of the things that makes Edde’s Estate an environmentalist farm.

We also try to introduce a permaculture program, which means what we stimulate the cultivation of crops between other crops. The idea is that the natural ecosystem is sustained as much as possible. For example, you have some apple trees that extract a certain type of insect. You can introduce another crop type between the trees that repel these insects. Also, the tree leaves that drop on the floor can form good soil. Unfortunately, bird hunting is a big thing in Lebanon. Recently a law was introduced that states that it is prohibited to hunt some bird species. However, there are many people who are not that law-abiding, and they will just shoot at anything. Enforcement of this law is hardly done. At least we are able to control hunting on our farm.  

What are the effects of climate change that you are noticing?

Too much. Climate change in the Bekaa Valley has brought us to a state of drought. The situation began to be really severe as from the year 2015. In that year, we still had frost in May, so all the crops froze. Usually, in May the temperature does not go any lower than 5°C. In 2016 the rainy season started to get shorter. Before, we had approximately four of five months of rain, in which the rain got the chance to penetrate the soil. But now, we are facing heavy rainfall, around 650 mm, in a period of only two months. These abundant amounts of runoff water are now going over the surface instead, so we lose most of it. In 2017 we also had a short rainy season, although the amount of rain was the yearly average. But summer endured longer than before. We reached 30°C in the second week of June, usually we reach this temperature in July. These high temperatures continued until October 13th. The crops suffered under this heat, so more water was needed to compensate these temperatures. It was a difficult year for us. This year we had a short winter, with less rain. And snow did not fall this winter in the Bekaa Valley. Usually we have water streams that reach the farm and stay until mid-May. This year, we already lost that water at the beginning of April. So in conclusion, we have a shorter period of rainfall, but the amounts are larger than before. This makes it difficult to store it.

Is this one of the reasons that Edde’s Estate volunteered for the MAR project?

Of course, for us it is a very interesting project. When you have a lot us runoff but you can’t do anything with it, you have to find a way to preserve it, to store it somewhere. We were already familiar with storing water overground, but underground was a new concept to us. We were approached for the pilot by ELARD, a Lebanese company that cooperates with Acacia Water. They came here and did some tests for a period of 2-3 months. The reason that they choose this farm I think, is due to the fact that we have a lot of runoff, being situated alongside the mountain slope. Also, we have the right physical geology, as underground karst is to be found.

What results are you hoping to obtain with MAR?

We hope to be able to store water underground and pump the water up during summer. Of course, this will change the balance of the vegetation that we have. Right now, we don’t irrigate our vineyards, but we hope to do so with the water stored by MAR. We need to start irrigating them as a result of the increasing drought we are facing. Usually, wine grapes in the Bekaa Valley are not irrigated, as adding water reduces the amount of sugar in grapes. But due to the drought, we now need to irrigate them just to compensate with the heat and the water that is evaporating quickly. Moreover, we have a number of water wells on our land, but the water level is decreasing rapidly every year. We hope to compensate this with MAR as well.

When will the installation take place?

The runoff will start in December, so we hope that the installation is done before that time. Then there will be sufficient time to store the runoff water of next winter.  

What about operations and maintenance?

One thing that is important, is making one persons responsible for the MAR. The systems itself is simple. And in regards to maintenance, in Lebanon, everything can be fixed. We are a very resourceful country, so I do not foresee many problems. We got good instructions on how to maintain and operate MAR, but the real learning starts as soon as the installation is realized.

What other techniques can farmers use to preserve water in the Bekaa Valley?

Most farmers in the Bekaa Valley are having a hard time and are forced to have a short-term view. Their main concern is how their farms can economically survive this year. They need their crop to grow, and they need water right now. They need to get back the money they invested, so in some cases farmers extract water 1000 meters underground to be able to irrigate their crops. Still, there are ways to preserve water. Many farmers use sprinklers to irrigate their crops, which is a major waste. Only around 40% of that water will reach the soil, the rest lands on the crops itself and will just evaporate. There are some mini-sprinklers systems with a radius of only two meters. These ones irrigate the soil much more localized and effectively, using less water. But due to the small radius they require more work. Edde’s Estate is switching to this system. We are warning other farmers in the area, if they keep using the big sprinklers, there will not be any water available in the future for irrigation. And this year, we were faced with a big drop in water level in the well, between 2017 and 2018, of around 18 meters.

Imagine that the pilot is a success, what do you think is needed in order the encourage other farmers in the Bekaa Valley to install MAR on their land?

The project is a big investment. In order to encourage them, firstly they will have to see it for themselves. Hopefully, if they see it, they will be convinced. But due to the large investment, bigger farms or entrepreneurs might be able to afford it more easily. I talked to many people who have big farms about MAR. In principle, they are interested, but it will still be important for them to get good returns of their investment. It would be a good thing to install MAR in an already existing water well, because drilling the well is what makes the investment costs high. MAR is a good solution in water wells that are drying up. Also, good runoff water is key. Other than that, the systems is easy to install and there is not much space needed. Using solar energy for the required pumps would be a good addition. Farm owners might also install MAR because they see how it could contribute to sustainability and water availability in the long run. Still, many farmers are mainly focused on making money in the short-term.

We are already spreading the word amongst many farmers, and we are excited to see the results, and the same goes for the farmers who we are talking to. Everyone is waiting with anticipation!