Role of remotely-sensed observation of a shared border watershed in environmental management, Lebanon-Syria

The application of remote sensing (RS) for providing basic data for environmental decision-making is growing rapidly. Whilst such application is becoming more routine within national boundaries, there is greater difficulty in bilateral or multi-national policy formulation and management intervention. This paper gives an example on the el Kabir River Basin shared between Lebanon and Syria, focusing on inter-related environmental issues. The natural and anthropogenic fabric of the watershed is provided by RS and GIS which contribute to improve water quality by securing information for managing land effectively. The fabric includes both natural and anthropogenic aspects such as geology, drainage, soils, land cover/land use, roads, utilities, agricultural practice, etc. Evaluation of water quality is derived from four seasonal synoptic water sampling episodes and from a single sediment sampling programme taken during summer flow. Sediment is being analyzed for trace metals, whereas water is being analyzed for nutrients and bacteria, and characterized by temperature, TDS, pH and dissolved oxygen. It is clear that management and conservation should relate to land use practices and policies to assure sustainability. The impact on the basin communities implies that these communities be a part of both evaluation and decision making. This explains the approach which integrates institutional, geomatics and public participation aspects. It will ensure there is an environmental "conservation competency" leading, within a bilateral policy framework, to the communities themselves being self-regulating. This will aid in the provision of sustainability within water sharing needs to give a high quality of living to the inhabitants of the watershed.