Establishment

The Litani River Authority was established by virtue of the Law issued on August 14, 1954 as a public institution that enjoys financial and administrative autonomy and does not succumb to the Public Accountability Law, the Audit Court and the labor-related regulations, except within the limits stipulated by the authority’s law of creation.

In 1960, the Litani River Authority was annexed to the General Directorate of the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation and fell under its administrative tutelage, which was later delegated to the Ministry of Energy and Water.

Mission and Objectives

The Litani River Authority’s law of creation and its amendments have entrusted the authority with the following functions:

• The execution of the Litani River Project for irrigation and drainage, for potable water and electricity production within the integrated Master Plan for Water in Lebanon and pursuant to the studies undertaken by the Lebanese Government assisted by the American Technical Commission.
• The installation of networks that would connect the various power plants of Lebanon.
• The erection of substations, transmission and distribution lines across all regions.
• The management and exploitation of irrigation water in the areas of central and northern Beqa’a, including the Yammouneh and the Wadi Massa-Yahfoufa projects.
• The creation of mountain lakes.

Management

The Litani River Authority is governed by a board of directors consisting of 9 members, including a president and a vice president appointed for three years by a ministerial decree. The first board of directors was appointed in 1955 and included:

• Salim Lahoud: President
• Fayez Al-Ahdab: Vice-president
• Director General of Public Works: member
• Director General of Finance: member
• Director General of National Economy: member
• Head of the Legislation and Litigation Committee at the Ministry of Justice: member
• Joseph Najjar: member
• Rida Al-Tamer: member
• Najib Alameddine: member

Later in 1959, the number of members was reduced to 7, inclusive of the president. A Director General appointed by a decree issued in the Cabinet runs the Authority. The norm prescribed that the Director General be a Maronite until 1990, when the position was given to the Shia’a. Nasser Nasrallah took office at the time serving as successor to Iskandar Ziadeh who assumed the post of Director General of the Beirut Water Authority. Nasrallah remained in his post until 2004.

Achievements

The Litani River Authority has carried out a number of successful projects, especially during its initial years. Of these projects we mention:

• The creation of the Qaraoun Lake in Western Beqa’a in 1960. The lake is an artificial reservoir stretching across 12 km2 with a capacity of 220 trillion m3 of water used for irrigation and power generation.
• The creation of the 34 MW hydro-electric plant of Ibrahim Abdul Al in Markaba in 1962.
• The creation of the 108 MW hydro-electric plant of Boulos Arqash by the Besri River near Joun in 1965.
• The creation of the Charles Helou hydro-electric plant of 98 MW by the Awwali River in 1968.
• The installation of irrigation networks in South Lebanon.
• The preparation of several studies pertaining to irrigation and dam projects.
• The development of the prescribed tendering procedures related to the Irrigation of the South Project.