SHABROUH, Lebanon: Below a giant reservoir of mineral-tinted blue water in the snow-capped mountains of Shabrouh, water gushes across a spillway that runs down through a 63-meter-high jagged stone wall. This small-scale dam on a minor waterway could well be the model to alleviate the country’s water and energy shortages. The Energy and Water Ministry has extensive plans for dozens of dams such as the one in Shabrouh, stretching from Aita Shaab in the south to Kawshara in the north.

But documents from the ministry and meetings with officials confirm that nearly every one of these dam projects is several years behind schedule. While five of the projects may begin construction soon, the ministry lacks the funds or the organizational capacities to arrange the infrastructure the country desperately needs. “The ministry does not have much money to do this,” said Ziad Zakhour, a dam expert at the ministry. [Link]