The Litani River is an important water resource in southern Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

. The river rises in the fertile Beqaa Valley

Beqaa Valley

The Beqaa Valley is a fertile valley in east Lebanon. For the Romans, the Beqaa Valley was a major agricultural source, and today it remains Lebanon’s most important farming region...

 valley, west of Baalbek

Baalbek

Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...

, and empties into the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

 north of Tyre. Exceeding 140 km in length, the Litani River is the longest river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in Lebanon and provides an average annual flow estimated at 920 million cubic meters. The waters of the Litani both originate and flow entirely within the borders of Lebanon. It provides a major source for water supply

Water supply

Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...

, irrigation

Irrigation

Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...

 and hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

 both within Southern Lebanon

Southern Lebanon

Southern Lebanon is the geographical area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. These two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s...

, and the country as a whole.

Sections of its lower reaches were under Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i control during 1978

Operation Litani

The 1978 South Lebanon conflict was an invasion in Lebanon up to the Litani River carried out by the Israel Defense Forces in 1978. It was a military success for the Israeli Defense Forces, as PLO forces were pushed north of the river...

 and from 1982 to 2000

1982-2000 South Lebanon conflict

The South Lebanon conflict refers to nearly 20 years of warfare between the Israel Defense Force and its Lebanese proxy militias and Lebanese Muslim guerrillas led by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah within what was defined by Israelis as the "Security Zone" in South Lebanon...

.

Southern flow

After heading south parallel to the Syrian border, as the Litani nears northern Israel and the Golan Heights, the course of the river bends dramatically westward. Near this bend, the Litani comes within five km of the Hasbani River

Hasbani River

The Hasbani River , also known as Snir Stream within Israel, is a tributary of the Jordan river.The Hasbani River derives most of its discharge from two springs in Lebanon, the Wazzani and the Haqzbieh, the latter being a group of springs on the uppermost Hasbani...

 and four km from the Israeli border.

Qasimiyeh

The portion of the river flowing west is called the Qasimiyeh. The Qasmieh-Ras-el-Aïn region, irrigated from the river's lower reaches from main irrigation canals, to south and north, is one of the largest irrigated areas in the nation, consisting of 32.64 km², shared among 1257 irrigating farmers, who concentrate on citrus crops and bananas (Raad 2004). For the entire stretch of the Qasimiyeh as it flows into the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

, the Litani River remains nearly parallel to (and about 18 miles (29 km) north of) the Israeli-Lebanese border. 10 km north of Tyre, the river is crossed by the ancient Leontes Bridge

Leontes Bridge

The Leontes Bridge is a Roman segmental arch bridge in Lebanon; it crosses the Litani River in the vicinity of Nahr Abou Assouad, 10 km north of Tyre...

.

Litani River Dam

Qaraoun, an artificial lake of 11 square km, was created by the Litani River Dam, 60 meters high and 1,350 meters in length, which was completed in 1959. A spillway of 6503 meters carries the water to the underground station where generators produce a maximum of 185 megawatts of electricity, the largest hydroelectric project in Lebanon. The dam was intended eventually to provide irrigation for 310 km² of farmland in South Lebanon and 80 km² in the Beqaa Valley. The office is at the southern (dam) end of the lake on the left side. The lakeside has a hotel and a number of restaurants specializing in fresh trout.

The Litani River Authority

The Litani River Authority (LRA) was formed in 1954 to facilitate the integrated development of the Litani River Basin. Shortly after its formation, the LRA engaged in a massive hydroelectric development project that tapped the 850 meter head potential between Lake Qaraoun and the Mediterranean. This development has brought about major hydrological changes to the Litani River Basin, where the flows from its upper reaches above Lake Qaraoun, referred to as the Upper Litani Basin (ULB), are diverted through a system of tunnels, ponds and plants, to meet the Mediterranean several kilometers north of its original natural tailwater. These changes have resulted in the effective hydrological separation between the ULB and the Litani lower reaches.The advent of a protracted civil strife in the 1970s followed by a prolonged occupation in the 1980s that lasted into the 1990s, have plunged the country into disarray, freezing development and investment in infrastructure. The subsequent return to normal conditions has encouraged the LRA to initiate several major water diversion projects from the ULB worth hundreds of millions of US dollars.

See also

• Battle of the Litani River
  Battle of the Litani River
  The Battle of the Litani River was a battle of the Second World War that took place between during the advance on Beirut during the Syria-Lebanon campaign...
  
  
• Operation Litani
  Operation Litani
  The 1978 South Lebanon conflict was an invasion in Lebanon up to the Litani River carried out by the Israel Defense Forces in 1978. It was a military success for the Israeli Defense Forces, as PLO forces were pushed north of the river...