Sweida-Sana
Multiple projects and procedures implemented by the Directorate of Water Resources in the Governorate of As-Suwayda to improve the reality of dams, rehabilitate a number of them, create new water dams, complete the equipping of Al-Mukarramah wells in a way that contributes to supporting and increasing water resources, securing irrigation water for farmers, introducing additional irrigated areas, and supporting government sectors to secure drinking water.
The Director of Water Resources in Al-Suwayda, Eng. Mahmoud Melli, explains in a statement to SANA's correspondent that the directorate supervises 16 dams in the governorate with a maximum storage volume of about 68 million cubic meters, which are mainly used to secure water for drinking and irrigation purposes, and their reality is continuously monitored and the technical situation for them is studied and the necessary solutions developed. For rehabilitation, in case of need, in order to achieve the required stability and safety factors and the conditions for safe and optimal investment, in cooperation with specialized bodies contracted by the Public Authority for Water Resources.
In this context, the Directorate continues, according to my request, the implementation of the project to rehabilitate the body of the Ghada Nimra Dam, located on Wadi al-Lwa, with a storage capacity of 2 million cubic meters, and contribute to securing drinking water for more than 25 residential communities by contracting with the dams branch of the General Company for Water Projects at a cost of one billion and 137 million Syrian pounds, and the implementation period of two years, where the skimming works of the back face up to the level at the bottom of the summit were completed, with the implementation of ballast and stone layers, and the spillway work was completed.
The implementation of the experimental yards and the temporary storage yards and the processing of the filter burials for the rehabilitation project of the northern Mushfif dam has also been initiated by contracting with the Military Housing Corporation branch in As-Suwayda at a cost of 814 million pounds, after the front façade was exposed to slipping, as its storage volume is 1.2 million cubic meters and contributes to securing and supporting imports of drinking water for about 14 residential communities in a mountainous area where it is difficult to dig artesian wells, provided that the project is contractually completed in the second half of 2022, as indicated by the Director of Water Resources.
In parallel, the Directorate is also working on rehabilitating the monitoring and measuring systems of dam installations, studying and evaluating the waterways leading to dam lakes, developing the technical solutions necessary to rehabilitate them with the engineering mechanisms available in the Directorate and take the necessary measures to protect dam lakes from encroachment upon them, especially those allocated for drinking water according to the importance and potentials available in cooperation With the concerned authorities, as Melli shows.
With regard to the water dams, Melli referred to the implementation of the project of constructing three consecutive accumulative reservoirs during the past three years in the Al-Kufr area to collect the water of the mixed spring with a storage volume of 119 thousand cubic meters, by contracting with the Military Construction Execution Corporation with the preparation for the implementation of the Mimas dams in the southern countryside and Ghaydah Hamail in the eastern countryside in addition To a breathless dam in the northern countryside with an evaluation of the technical situation of the implemented dams due to their importance in securing the water needed for farmers to irrigate their crops and water their livestock.
The Directorate of Water Resources is completing the implementation of the remaining 18 wells from the Mukarrama Wells project to introduce new irrigated areas according to the available capabilities and priorities based on the most important to meet the agricultural water needs of farmers, coinciding with the investment of the equipped wells, which reached 92 out of 110 wells, which are close to The completion of equipping 8 wells to be put into investment by the end of the current year, at a total cost of about 619 million pounds, and includes the wells of Al-Qarya 1 and 2 and Al-Tira wells “Sama Al-Hanidat, Umm Rwaq, Dama, Eray 2 and 3, Kharba and Al-Islah, in addition to completing alternative drilling for the wells of Al-Khaldiyah and Al-Haqf and drilling and cladding a support well “Salkhad 2” provided that it will complete drilling and equipping 10 other wells and placing them in investment next year, including the wells of Kanaker and Labin “Green, Melh 2 and 3, Tema, Tarba, Park 2 and Al Buthaina 2” at a cost exceeding 1.05 billion Syrian pounds.
The wells mainly aim, as Al-Milli explains, to irrigate crops, especially fruit trees that are tolerant of drought, including olives, almonds, pistachios, grapes and figs, with the support of the Public Establishment for Drinking Water in the governorate through 44 wells by connecting them to drinking water networks and 10 wells that were handed over to the foundation to be invested for drinking water. In full, and one well for the Sweida Agriculture Directorate, in addition to supporting other government sectors, and providing water for livestock and poultry.
The aforementioned water projects have a fundamental role, as Al-Melli points out in the development plans and raising the standard of living for farmers, as a number of wells have been built networks and pipelines commensurate with the irrigation capacity of each well with lengths of 285541 meters, while the irrigated agricultural areas invested on them amounted to 1,385 hectares with 5494 subscribers at the time. The share of one dunum planted with trees amounted to 146 cubic meters per year, while livestock is supplied with an amount of about 10503 cubic meters per month, while the irrigated areas on the irrigation network built on the Sahwa Al-Waist dam reached 160 hectares, with a number of 92 subscribers and 27 hectares on the Sahwa Al-Slabah Dam and the number of subscribers 209 subscribers.
In order to ensure the continuity of the wells' work and pumping, the technical status of them is monitored, the efficiency of their submersible pumps are raised, their equipment is protected and maintained, and the reality of all irrigation networks connected to them is periodically assessed to secure their needs and make the necessary repairs to them. He responded with the implementation of main irrigation lines for the networks of Al-Quraya 1 and 2 wells and Majadel Samid and Erra, with an implementation rate that exceeded 55 percent, at a value of 83 million pounds, with the preparation for the implementation of the irrigation network of the “Al-Tha`la 2” well by contracting with the branch of the Military Construction Execution Corporation at a value of 61 million pounds in addition to the implementation of an irrigation well “Salkhad 3” during the next year with a value of 157 million liras.
Al-Milli pointed out that the Directorate is following up on the reality of some of the main springs invested for the Water Corporation to support drinking water imports in some areas in terms of monitoring, measurement and water quality.
Ghassan Khyo
