Marginal and Virtual Water for Sustainable Water Resources Management in Syria

The potential for potable water conservation through the use of greywater for toilet flushing in Syria can be up to 35% of domestically used water. The economic analysis of the treatment of greywater through artificial wetlands and commercial bio filters showed that, with the current water tariff, the payback periods would be 7 and 52 years, respectively. However, these periods could be reduced to 3 and 21 years, respectively, if beneficiaries paid the full water costs. Furthermore, additional roof rainwater harvesting in Syria could increase water availability to as much as 35 million m3 (MCM) in rural areas. Rainwater harvesting could add up to 3% to available national water resources. In the agricultural sector, Syria could save more than 500 MCM of water if lower water consumption crops were substituted on half of the land currently planted with cotton. Crop change scenarios may depend on a national agricultural trade based on imports of high water consumption crops and exports of low water consumption crops. The implementation of modern irrigation techniques and improvement of national development policy play a vital role in reducing the gap between water supply and demand.