Fragmentation in Wastewater Governance: The Case of the Southern Beirut Wastewater Network

Abstract

This thesis seeks to explore one of the best known failures of the wastewater sector in Lebanon, the network in the area south of Beirut serviced by the Al-Ghadir wastewater treatment plant. Despite the fact that a pipe network has been set in place, two pumping stations have been executed, and a pre-treatment plant has been built in Choueifat, the network is not operational. Instead, wastewater is immediately dumped into the sea through multiple sea outfalls, often used as alternative ad-hoc solutions set up by municipalities along the coastline. Looking specifically at this case study, I seek to unravel some of the factors that explain why this wastewater system has failed. By investigating the institutional framework and the spatial organization of the system, my thesis hypothesizes that several overlapping factors could have led to these conditions. First, I argue that the structure of governance is at the core of the wastewater network failure, whereby the lack of coordination across public institutions causes overlaps and gaps in responsibility and generates resistance to the implementation and operation of projects. Second, I argue that the spatial organization of the service area into multiple geographies, marked by the division into numerous municipal districts, political-sectarian territories, and formal-informal areas, creates fragmentation in governance, making it harder to coordinate across bodies. The circumstances of this failure may not be generalizable across the country and beyond. It will therefore be impossible to explain the failures of other networks by simply extrapolating from this case study. Yet, studying the specificity of a case, going deep into the circumstances and conditions that surround it, and unraveling what is common and could be studied for other cases is an important first step to understanding why Lebanon’s planning agencies have failed to extend the sewer network within their urban areas. Another significance of this thesis is the direct association of the wastewater sector with issues relating to environmental preservation, public health, overall quality of life, and environmental justice.