Lebanon has always stood out for having relatively more water resources per capita than its neighboring countries. This is attributed mainly to its topography which favors moderately high rates of precipitation (rain and snow) over its territory. A large portion of this precipitation infiltrates into its aquifers to become groundwater, while the remaining portion either evaporates or flows as surface water runoff. The groundwater then either gets stored in the rock formations or flows in the subsurface until it emerges back to the surface in the form of springs or under the sea in the form of sea springs. The groundwater flow is controlled by the nature of the rocks and the geological structures.

The study presented in this report is implemented by UNDP in partnership with and on behalf of the Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) and funded by the Government of the Republic of Italy. It aims at re-assessing the groundwater resources of the country in light of the various studies that have been conducted over the past 45 years, while taking into consideration the increased exploitation of the groundwater resources. The study was conducted by a consortium of companies lead by Earth Link & Advanced Resources Development (ELARD) and included BURGEAP, IGIP and Ribeka. It started in October 2011, and lasted for about two and a half years.