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Press Release


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Hannover, March 22, 2010

Two new BGR projects in Syria and Lebanon. Kümpel: Sustainable groundwater protection is of major importance

The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) is starting two new groundwater projects in Syria and Lebanon under the umbrella of international “Technical Co-operation”. The two projects funded by the German Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ) aim to identify new groundwater protection areas, and to ensure the sustainable protection of these valuable georesources.

“The importance of sustainable groundwater protection is growing,” says BGR President Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Kümpel. “This applies around the world, and naturally especially in developing countries and arid regions such as the Middle East. The main drinking water supplies here are derived from groundwater. Increasing contamination is endangering the water resources and human health. The sustainable protection of groundwater reservoirs is therefore one of the key tasks of development cooperation activities. Projects such as those in Syria and Lebanon are important elements in this work,” emphasises Prof. Kümpel.

The objective of the project in Syria is to safeguard the quality of the groundwater of the Figeh Spring System that provides a bulk of the drinking water for the capital Damascus. Recent social and economic growth in the Figeh catchment area is putting pressure on the vulnerable water resources. The groundwater is threatened by pollution, as untreated wastewater infiltrates into the ground. Working together with its Syrian partners, the BGR experts intend to detect possible sources of pollution and propose measures for a long-term sustainable protection of the Figeh Spring by developing a land use plan taking aspects of groundwater protection into consideration.

In the near future BGR will support the Lebanese Water Ministry with assistance in protecting the Jeita spring which provides 80% of the water supply to Beirut, Lebanon’s capital (1.5 million inhabitants). Major settlement in the catchment area of the groundwater resource may cause bacteriological contamination of the Jeita spring. BGR, together with the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), is therefore advising the Lebanese government with the aim of selecting suitable sites for the construction of sewage treatment works, and the development of decentralised sewage treatment concepts. In addition, water protection zones are also to be defined for the Jeita spring. One of the key objectives of the project is to raise the awareness of decision makers and the local inhabitants for the need for sustainable groundwater protection.

A groundwater monitoring system is to be installed as part of the project to control the water treatment and improve the quality of the water in the pipe network. This system will enable the water utility to switch water supplies to other sources, or to modify the water treatment processes, if serious contamination is observed. Establishing a groundwater protection zone also means that land use regulations must include groundwater protection aspects.

BGR’s activities in Syria and Lebanon are typical of its commitment over many years to numerous groundwater protection projects around the world. The BGR experts always encounter the same problems: primarily the lack of sanitation in the ever expanding mega cities. Over 2.4 billion people around the world have no access to sanitation. Two million people every year die from water related diseases caused by contaminated drinking water. Fast and effective groundwater protection is therefore an urgent priority – also for economic reasons: investing now, saves money later in having to implement highly technical and expensive measures to clean up contaminated groundwater resources.

“The quality of our groundwater resources is increasingly threatened by human contamination. This means we are not only putting the ecosystem at risk, but also our further development, because groundwater is our most important resource,” says Prof. Kümpel. The BGR President therefore considers it to be all the more important to raise awareness of this key issue through initiatives such as World Water Day 2010, and to promote the importance of preventative protection to maintain water quality. The slogan of this year’s World Water Day on 22 March is: “Clean water for a healthy world”.


More information:
http://www.bgr.bund.de/EN/Themen/TZ/TechnZusammenarb/Politikberatung__GW/Grundwasser__IWRM/
Sanitaerversorgung/sanitaerversorgung__node__en.html


Photos:
http://www.bgr.bund.de/EN/Gemeinsames/Oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/Pressemitteilungen/BGR/bgr-100319-bilder__en.html


Contact:
Vanessa Vaessen, Tel.: +49 (0)511 643 2380, E-Mail: Vanessa.Vaessen@bgr.de


Logos der drei Institutionen im GEOZENTRUM HANNOVER


Press spokesman: Andreas Beuge, Tel.: 0511 643 2679,
E-mail: info@bgr.de Internet: http://www.geozentrum-hannover.de
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