Measures to facilitate Low
Low‐Carbon
Carbon andEnergy‐Saving water use in semiarid areas
5th Oct.
Oct 2011

PalmyraRural Damascus

Osamu ITAGAKI : Senior Researcher, Climate Change Adaptation
RResearchh GroupG/ WaterW t Management
Mt andd Dam
DDiv.
Di , River
RiDep.
D,
National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management.
FFormer
JICA EExpert (W(Water R
Resources P
Policyli AdAdviser)i ) iin Syria
S ifrom May 2007 to June 2010.

Location of Syria

TurkeyIran
The Mediterranean

Syrian Arab Republic

JordanIraq* Base map ( Syria (orthographic projection).svg ) is downloaded from Creative Commons.

Outlines of Syria (1)*(1)
• Capital city: Damascus• Area: 185 thousand km2（about a half of Japan）• Population: 22.5 million （2010）• Gross National Income per capita:
2 160 dollars（2008）
2,160• Official language: Arabic• Religion: Islam（86%), Christian（8%）* Data book of the world (2011) （Ninomiya Shoten publishers Co., Ltd.）
Rural Damascus

Outlines of Syria (2)*(2)
Exports from Japan to Syria （2009）26 1 billion yen (Motorcars 41
26.1
41.6%,
6% Tyres17.6%, Machinery 12.7%, Electric devices
6 7% Buses and trucks 66.7%,6.1%)
1%)
Imports from Syria to Japan (2009)
3.4 billion yen (Processed petroleum 78.3%,Raw cotton 10
10.1%,1% Soap 11.8%）
8%）* Data book of the world (2011) （Ninomiya Shoten publishers CoCo., Ltd.）Ltd ）Rural Damascus

Outlines of hydrology and water usein Syria (1)• About a half of the land is in semiarid (Al Badiah)basin.
• We can see rainfall from the autumn to the spring.
The annual averageg rainfall around the center ofDamascus is about 200–250 mm, and there issnowfall in the winter.
• There are some international rivers flowing in Syria.
e.g. Euphrates, Tigris, Orontes.
• A large part of water is used for agriculture.
Rural Damascus

Outlines of hydrology and water use
in Syria (2)• Under water shortage, farmers tend to use water
as much as possible.
• Most of the water use depends on the groundwater etc. drawn byy ppumps.
p• When the rate of fuel for pumps had risen
dramatically the tendency to decrease thedramatically,
operation time of pumps became stronger. Also,interest in the efficient irrigation techniques
became stronger among the farmers.
• Disposed sewage water is reused in agricultureagriculture.
Rural Damascus

Memories of water service in Syria (1)As a resident at fourth floor of an apartment near the center ofDamascus.
Damascus

1. We basically received the tap water before noon. Eachhhousehhas ththe ttankk on th
the rooftop
ft off th
the bbuilding
ildi ffor
reserving water before noon, and we use the water
reservedd ini theth tankt k ini theth afternoon.
ftTheTh source off
the tap water in my district was springs in the suburbsof Damascus.
Damas s If the basin had received
re ei ed much
m h rainfall
and the ground water level near the spring was high,the pressure of the tap water would be higher,
higher and theduration of water service would be longer, sometimes
24 hours a dayday.
TartusMemories of water service in Syria (2)2. We reserved drinking water in a portable tank in
the kitchen before noon, or purchased bottled
water (spring water in Syria).
3. When the water service was limited (e.g. in latesummer), it was difficult to reserve water in the tankon the rooftop of the building because of the lack of
the tap water pressure. Every house had a small pumpnear the divergence of the water pipe to increase thetap water pressure.
4. The rate of water was very cheap compared with thatof electricity etc..
TartusMeasures
easu es to facilitate
ac tate Low‐Carbon
o Ca bo aanddEnergy‐Saving water use in Syria (1)• Since there are wide semiarid areas under water
shortage water saving and conservation is more
shortage,emphasized than Low‐Carbon and Energy‐Saving wateruse e.g.
use.
e g Syria‐Japan technical cooperation project on
Development of Efficient Irrigation Techniques andExtension in Syria (DEITEX).
(DEITEX)• Since most of the water use is depending on the groundwater etc.
etc drawn by pumps
pumps, water saving directly
connects with Low‐Carbon and Energy‐Saving by saving
the fuelfuel.
Al BadiahMeasures
easu es to facilitate
ac tate Low‐Carbono Ca bo aanddEnergy‐Saving water use in Syria (2)• Continuous collection of the hydrological data (e.g.
rainfall ground water level),rainfall,level) analysis of those datadata, andintegrated water resources management contributes to
Low‐Carbon
Low
Carbon and Energy‐Saving
Energy Saving water use by efficientwater resources distribution etc. (e.g. decrease of pumpup decrease of water treatment)
up,treatment). ee.g.
g Syria‐JapanSyria Japantechnical cooperation project on Water Resources
Information Center (WRIC).
(WRIC)Al BadiahFarmland in Rural Damascus
With water,
it has become green
green.

Rural Damascus

A well at a water service stationin semiarid areas

SweidaAgricultural portable pumps along a river

Dayr Az Zawr

Sewage disposal plant in Rural Damascus

Rural Damascus

Irrigation canal
ffromtheh sewage disposal
dil plantl(1)

Rural Damascus

Irrigation canalfrom the sewage disposal plant (2)Rural Damascus

An intake pit of the irrigation canal

Rural Damascus

Irrigation by the waterfrom the sewage disposal plant

Rural Damascus

Ground water observation station( )(1)

Rural Damascus

Ground water observation station(2)

Rural Damascus

River flow observation station (1)Damascus

River flow observation station (2)DamascusMeteorologicalgobservation station

Lattakia

Rainfall observation station

Lattakia

Evaporation observation station

Lattakia

A windmill near a damin semiarid areas

Al BadiahSolar cells at a water service stationin the semiarid areas

Al Badiah

The conclusion (1)• Since most of water is drawn by pumps, watersaving directly connects with Low
Low‐Carbon
Carbon andEnergy‐Saving by saving the fuel.
• To facilitate Low‐Carbon and Energy‐Saving
water use, it is needed to continuously collectbasic hydrological data (e.g. rainfall, groundwater level),level) analyze them,
them and manage water
resources in an integrated way.

Lattakia

The conclusion (2)• Reuse of disposed sewage water in agriculture
may contribute to Low
Low‐Carbon
Carbon and Energy‐
EnergySaving water use with careful management.
• Generating facilities by windmill, or by solar cells
have been partially introduced. It may
contributes to Low‐Carbon and Energy‐Saving if
the maintenance system of the facilities isavailable.

Lattakia