Balaa dam construction to start

At least ten villages will
benefit from water supply

The construction of Balaa Dam in Batroun will be launched on June 30, the Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) said. The dam is expected to supply 40,000 individuals with water in at least ten villages.

The government will fund the project, said a source at the Establishment of the Water of Beirut and Mount Lebanon (EBML). The Cabinet had earlier approved the dam’s construction.

Last year the MoEW had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran to accept a donation of $40 million for building the dam. The memorandum had included the construction of the dam and a water treatment plant but the deal was later cancelled.

The planned dam will be located in the town of Chatin near Nahr el-Joz, at 1,490 meters above sea level.

“The project has been contracted to local construction company Mouawad-Edde through a tender,” said Ziad Zakhour, advisor to the Ministry of Energy.

The Balaa dam will be 400 meters long and 35 meters high, and will be composed of rock sediments. “It will be able to hold 1.2 million cubic meters of water in static storage and 2.2 million cubic meters in dynamic storage,” Zakhour said.

The project will be completed in 2016.