Decades-long drought jeopardizes Syria's tenuous post-war rejuvenation

Intense Drought Strangles Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East: Rivers, Lakes, Crops Dwindle; Major Cities Face Extended Water Shortages. The predicament is especially severe in Syria, where experts remark that rainfall has dwindled for decades, and the struggling administration is attempting...

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2025 September 13 . 4:16 PM

2 min read

Syrian Recovery from Decade-Long Civil War at Risk due to Severe Drought

Decades-long drought jeopardizes Syria's tenuous post-war rejuvenation

In the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, a severe drought is causing widespread hardships, with countries such as Syria and Lebanon struggling to cope.

The situation is particularly dire in Syria, where rainfall has been declining for decades, leading to the country's water resources becoming increasingly scarce. Farmers, including Mansour Mahmoud Al-Khatib, are experiencing drastically reduced crop yields due to the drought. Al-Khatib's farm, which in a good year could produce 800 to 900 kilograms of wheat per dunam, yielded only a quarter of that this year.

The groundwater in some monitoring wells in Syria's Idlib province dropped by more than 10 meters in three months due to farmers overpumping. Syria's expected wheat harvest for this year is a mere 1 million tons, necessitating increased spending on imports due to the country's strained resources.

In Lebanon, the situation is equally challenging. The Litani River's reservoir, Lake Qaraoun, has shrunk to the size of a pond due to a dry winter and climate change. Incoming water this year did not exceed 45 million cubic meters, less than one-third of Lebanon's annual demand. This has resulted in dayslong tap water cutoffs in major cities.

The reduced water flow from rivers coming from Lebanon is contributing to the drought in Syria. Climate change is a significant factor in the ongoing drought, exacerbating the effects of the dry winter.

Prof. Dr. Arnim Wiek, a key researcher at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) working on sustainable community catering, which is related to food supply and resource use, has been involved in global food and water supply issues.

As the drought continues, the region faces food insecurity and increased pressure on its already strained resources. The situation highlights the urgent need for sustainable water management and climate change mitigation strategies.