Enab Baladi – Christina al-Shammas
Residents of areas in rural Damascus are growing increasingly concerned about the insufficient water supply to their neighborhoods as summer approaches. Their suffering has been repeated every year, with water being pumped to their areas, at best, once or twice a week, coinciding with electricity outages.
What complicates matters this year is the low rainfall from last winter, which did not exceed 33% of the annual average.
A similar fate
“The same suffering and the same demands are repeated every year,” said Rim Mahla, a resident of the al-Bardeh area in rural Damascus, expressing the hardships of the residents regarding the low water supply, which usually reaches them once a week.
Mahla mentioned to Enab Baladi that she cannot fill the water tank due to the lack of a pump to help get the water to the tank on the building’s roof, forcing her to rely almost entirely on water trucks at a cost of 180,000 Syrian pounds per month (the dollar is roughly 12,000 SYP), which adds a financial burden to her family of five.
Gisele Haddad shares the same plight in the town of Qatana, with water supply reaching twice a week, specifically during electricity outages. The amount of water pumped varies between the two days, and if the supply is strong the first time, it is often weak the second time, making it difficult for most residents to fill their tanks.
The situation is similar in the areas of al-Kiswa and Jdeidet Artouz, where, according to testimonies from citizens who spoke with Enab Baladi, some neighborhoods receive water once a week at irregular times, while others are completely deprived; the residents have received no response to their repeated demands for improvements in water supply for years.
Ahmad Hassan, a resident of al-Kiswa, said that a part of the neighborhoods do not receive water due to damaged networks that are around 30 years old, and repairs to the network are funded by the local community, while the water unit only provides them with workers and equipment.
In the towns of Eastern Ghouta, residents have expressed concerns about the non-arrival of water to their areas, relying on local wells. However, since 2018, the water level in these wells has significantly decreased.
Residents of Eastern Ghouta depend on pumps to extract water from the wells, and the situation worsens with the low level of rainfall.
The solution is costly
Most residents in the rural areas of Damascus rely on filling non-potable water from trucks at a cost ranging from 45,000 to 50,000 SYP for a tank holding five barrels, while filling a tank holding ten barrels costs between 60,000 to 70,000 SYP.
They obtain drinking water by filling plastic containers (jerry cans) from commercial shops, with the cost of a jerry can (20 liters) being around 6,000 SYP.
To address the issue of water supply coinciding with electricity outages, some residents subscribe to private power generators, yet the weekly subscription costs between 80,000 to 100,000 SYP on average.
Others have resorted to installing solar panels, and despite the decrease in prices since the regime’s fall, they still far exceed the average citizen’s ability to afford them, with prices ranging between 60 to 200 dollars depending on type and capacity.
The Ain al-Fijah spring is no longer a safe source
The Director of the General Institution for Drinking Water in the Damascus and Rural Damascus governorates, Ahmad Darwish, spoke in an interview with Enab Baladi about the challenges facing the institution and its future plans.
Darwish noted that some areas of rural Damascus depend partly on water stations from Damascus, in addition to local wells found in every area, whether licensed for residential or agricultural use.
The water institution manager explained that each community (village, town, or city) has its specific water sources, and there is no area in rural Damascus without a water source. However, some regions may not have sufficient sources, forcing residents to purchase water from private wells in the area.
Darwish confirmed that the wells in rural areas are insufficient to meet citizens’ needs, and the situation is further complicated by the decrease in water from the Ain al-Fijah spring, which is no longer a safe source for supplying Damascus and its outskirts.
Challenges facing the institution
The General Institution for Drinking Water suffers from a lack of water supply from the main spring that feeds Damascus and its outskirts and the low water levels in all primary, secondary, or tertiary sources surrounding the main spring.
According to the director of the institution, Ahmad Darwish, the Damascus basin has been depleted and not rested this year due to the low water levels in the Ain al-Fijah spring, which was primarily relied upon without needing to resort to operating external springs or wells.
Darwish attributed the causes of the low water levels in 2025 to several factors:
Low rainfall in the previous winter, which did not exceed 33%.
Climate changes affecting Syria.
A noticeable decrease in the Damascus basin’s water to 150 millimeters, which used to be around 500 millimeters in previous years, leading residents to seek water resources through illegal means, especially by digging shallow wells 5 to 7 meters deep.
An increase in the population and thus an increase in their water needs.
Emergency plan
According to Darwish, the water institution is working on an emergency plan, preparing more than 100 wells within the city to invest them in covering the expected shortfall from the Ain al-Fijah spring, distributed across the fifth, eighth, and sixth districts, as well as al-Rabwa, al-Qadam, Barada, and Jdeidet Yabous areas.
During the summer, the institution will depend on a similar distribution from the main springs to rural Damascus and its surroundings, working on repairing local wells in rural areas either through the institution or through supporting organizations like local and international organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and UNICEF.
Darwish urges the local community to rationalize water consumption, given that there are around two million families in rural Damascus.
If families follow water-saving guidelines, it could provide a relative solution to the problem, with potential savings of around 15,000 cubic meters per day if each family saves 10 liters of water.
Rural Damascus: Emergency plan to face upcoming water crisis Enab Baladi.
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