Measuring the water produced and updating subscribers’ files: WAMA+ focuses its resources on two water management projects in Lebanon. Launched on 21 October 2026, it has 19.5 million euro to accompany the four regional establishments until mid-2029.
The European Union is contributing EUR 16.7 million and Germany EUR 2.8 million. The GIZ is implementing with the Ministry of Energy and Water. The objectives announced are to monitor 400 major sources of supply and update the records of approximately 800,000 subscribers.
Know how much water is produced
Measurement systems from the 400 sources must provide central information bases. This will allow institutions to gain a better understanding of the available volumes and to organise their operations.
This monitoring should also help identify the network’s difficulties and guide interventions. However, the water produced must be distinguished from that which actually reaches the users. Installing measurement tools alone will not be enough to eliminate losses.
The 400 sources remain a deployment target. The announcement of the programme does not constitute a balance sheet of equipment already in service.
Update 800,000 files
The other project concerns the relationship with subscribers. The files of the four institutions need to be updated and digitized to make billing and payment tracking more reliable.
For public bodies, an up-to-date basis should facilitate the identification of subscriptions and collection. For users, the expected improvement is due to a clearer management of their files and their exchanges with the institution on which they depend.
Revenues are a central issue in the program. They contribute to the operation and maintenance of the service. At the launch, Energy and Water Minister Joe Saddi linked the modernization of tools to loss reduction, improved billing and the financial viability of the sector.
European and German funding
The European contribution represents about 85.6% of the envelope, compared with 14.4% for Germany. These funds finance facilities and support institutions, without direct payments to households.
WAMA+ extends the WAMA programme, the previous phase of which focused on the legal, financial and organisational framework for sanitation. This new phase places more emphasis on production data and digital subscriber management.
The mid-2029 horizon leaves several years to deploy the tools in all four institutions. Their maintenance and regular updating of files will then have to enter the daily operation of the service.
What subscribers can expect
The program aims at a more reliable and transparent service. At this point, the announcement does not indicate the number of hours of additional supply that each household could obtain. Nor does it set a timetable for general tariff changes.
The improvement of recovery should therefore not be read as the announcement of an increase in invoices. The first results can be assessed on concrete elements: the sources actually followed, the files corrected and the capacity of the establishments to use these data to reduce losses and better organize distribution.
Snowy landscape in Cedar, North Lebanon. Photographic archives Libnanews; date of shooting not established. Illustration of Lebanese natural resources, without representation of an equipped source or a WAMA+ site. Credit: Libnanews Archives
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